IH&RA Moves Operations to Geneva, Switzerland
FEBRUARY 14, 2008. At the end of last year, International Hotel & Restaurant Association (IH&RA) moved their operations from Paris France to set up its new office in Geneva, Switzerland after 65 years of presence in France. IH&RA is now settled in the heart of the International Organizations, facing the United Nations.
Why Geneva? IH&RA found in Geneva a practical location, in the very center of the world, highly convenient for its committee and for its members to join. The city offers both a business friendly environment and a cosmopolite atmosphere which, among others, fit to the IH&RA's values.
Dr. Ghassan Aidi, President of IH&RA, did point out that "the decision to transfer our operations center to Geneva after being so long in Paris, is because we need to move toward 'The Next Generation', upgrade and modernize our administrative structure. It was a tough decision but the move and relocation went smooth as we had the best help from the Canton and the City of Geneva. It was a challenge for IH&RA but I had a wonderful team from Switzerland that helps me with the installation of our premise". The President also said "Now we are getting closer to the United Nations as our association is officially recognized as the representative of the private hospitality sector. We will concentrate on our objectives for 2008: inform, represent, support and defend the position of the hospitality industry worldwide".
Founded in 1946 the International Hotel & Restaurant Association - IH&RA (www.ih-ra.com) is the only global business organization representing the hospitality industry worldwide. IH&RA members are national hotel and restaurant associations and international and national hotel and restaurant chains across the globe. Officially recognized by the United Nations, IH&RA monitors and lobbies all international agencies on behalf of this industry, estimated to comprise over 300,000 hotels and 8 million restaurants, employ 60 million people and contribute 950 billion USD annually to the global economy.
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