IAHI Welcomes New Board Members

IAHI, the Owners' Association of IHG

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. October 14, 2008

OCTOBER 23, 2007. IAHI, the Owners' Association of IHG, announces the election of four new members to its Board of Directors: Bakulesh G. "Buggsi" Patel, Kevin P. Hilchey, Mark Zipperer, and Jose Paoli Montesinos.

The announcement was made during the 2007 IHG Americas Investors & Leadership Conference, held October 22-24 in Dallas, Texas.

Bakulesh G. "Buggsi" Patel is the President and Chief Executive Officer of BHG Hotels, a Wilsonville, Oregon-based hotel/motel management and consulting firm. Buggsi has ownership interest in 21 hotels in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Iowa, Ohio, Michigan, and California. Two additional properties are currently under development. Buggsi has been a member of the IAHI since 2001 and has been a member of the Holiday Inn Express Committee since 2004. He graduated from the inaugural class of IAHI's unique Leadership Institute in 2004.

Buggsi served as Chairman of the Asian American Hotel Owners' Association in 2000 and was a member of the Executive Committee since 1996. In addition, he is a perennial member and Director and past Executive Committee member of the American Hotel & Lodging Association. He also was elected President of the Oregon Lodging Association in 1997-1998, and elected to a second term in 1998-1999.

Kevin P. Hilchey is President and Founder of Longview, Texas-based Lodging Host Hotel Corporation, since 1984. He has been active in the IAHI by serving on the Holiday Inn Express Brand Committee from 2003 to the present, and the Southern Regional Committee from 2001-2003. Hilchey co-founded the East Texas Hotel and Motel Association in 1982 and served as its President. He also has served on the Board and as President of the Legal Defense Fund for the Texas Hotel and Motel Association (TH&LA).

Mark Zipperer is President, Chief Executive Officer, and Owner of Pride Hospitality, LLC in Germantown, Tennessee, which he founded in 1998. Zipperer currently serves as a member of the IAHI Technology Committee. He also held a position on the Holiday Inn Express Brand Committee from 2002-2006 and the Central Regional Committee from 2000-2002. In addition, he is an advisory board member of the Kemmons Wilson School of Hotel and Resort Management Program at the University of Memphis.

Jose Paoli Montesinos, President of Grupo Hotelero Latino America since 1991, has been responsible for the operations of five Holiday Inn hotels and one Tulip Inn property. He has been a member of the IAHI Mexico Committee since 2004 and has served as its President as well. The hotel industry veteran has worked throughout Latin America for IHG for 37 years. The Mexico City native has participated in more than 25 hotel openings for IHG.

"These gentlemen bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to our Board and will advocate extensively for our members," says Rick Takach, IAHI Chairman and President and Chief Executive Officer of Vesta Hospitality in Vancouver, Washington. "We welcome them and look forward to working together."