Michael Hooper – a former Bahamas Hotelier of the Year -has had a distinguished 23-year career in the hotel industry in The Bahamas, the UK, the US and Canada.
Cable Beach Resorts Executive Vice President, Operations, Michael Sansbury said, “We are particularly pleased to have a Bahamian of Michael’s stature join us in a senior leadership position as we prepare for the development of Baha Mar.”
Mr Hooper, who grew up in The Bahamas, started his career as a front desk clerk with Hilton International Hotels at the Drake Hotel in Chicago, USA in 1985.
He occupied various positions at Hilton hotels in the US and the UK before becoming general manager at the Kensington Hilton Hotel followed by the Gatwick Hilton, which was named Hotel of the Year under his stewardship in 1997.
At the same time Mr Hooper won General Manager of the Year among all Hilton hotels in the UK, and the hotel was named in the top 10 hotels worldwide of most profitable hotels for Hilton lnternational.
Mr Hooper was made General Manager of the British Colonial Hilton situated on One Bay Street in The Bahamas in December 1998, and one year later, he reopened the hotel after a $68 million restoration. Shortly thereafter, the hotel was given an AAA 4 Diamond rating, Named Hotelier of the Year for The Bahamas in 2003, Mr Hooper also received the Toastmasters Hospitality Recognition Award that year.
Mr Hooper holds board memberships in the Bahamas Hotel Association, the Nassau Tourism and Development Board and the Nassau Paradise Island Promotion Board. He is a past board member of the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce, and president of the Skal Club of Nassau.
Source: The Tribune
