PRHTA awards best of Puerto Rico’s tourism
The Puerto Rico Hotel & Tourism Association (PRHTA) recently held its traditional Tourism Superstars award ceremony, which acknowledges the outstanding performance of supervisors and managers of all levels in the island’s tourism industry.
The event took place at the San Juan Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino, in Condado.
PRHTA has celebrated this event for more than 30 years, and it is the only one of its kind to acknowledge the best talent in Puerto Rico’s tourism industry, the professional trade group confirmed.
This year’s awards recognized tourism’s outstanding managers and supervisors; and José González-Espinosa, area manager of Marriot Properties, walked away with the Hotelier of the Year award.
“His leadership, performance, level of engagement, loyalty, and support to the PRHTA as unifying organization and the oldest in the island’s tourism, earned him the recognition,” the organization said.
“We’re very proud of the outstanding performance of all the nominees who were recognized with this award,” said PRHTA President Clarisa Jiménez.
“These star employees help put Puerto Rico in the spotlight and demonstrate great qualities that enable them to provide excellent service to our visitors,” she said.
“Their attention, dedication, and enthusiasm, as well as their high level of commitment in the face of challenges, make them stand out,” Jiménez said.
During the event, awards were given to employees who are key for the tourism activity, who stand out for their “passion, responsibility, commitment, and ethics.”
Nominees this year included representatives of hotels, casinos, restaurants as well as allied partners, which are businesses that interact in many ways with tourism activity, such as airlines, tour operators, car rentals, insurance agencies, universities, among others.
These employees were nominated by their employers and were evaluated according to their job performance, quality of service and attention to customers.
Food and Beverage awardees:
- Employee of the Year — Josué Martínez, San Juan Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino
- Supervisor of the Year — Efraín Burgos, Embassy Suites San Juan
- Manager of the Year — Jeisy Rodríguez, Caribe Hilton Hotel
Casinos awardees:
- Employee of the Year — Ismael Rosado, San Juan Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino
- Supervisor of the Year — Ada Ortiz, Holiday Inn & Tropical Casino Ponce
- Manager of the Year — Carla Vargas, San Juan Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino
Large Hotel awardees:
- Employee of the Year — Teodolina Pico-Pico, Caribe Hilton Hotel
- Supervisor of the Year — Sigfredo Medina, San Juan Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino
- Manager of the Year — Joel Burgos, Sheraton Puerto Rico
Medium-sized Hotel awardees:
- Employee of the Year — Latania Román- The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort
- Supervisor of the Year — Ricardo Rodríguez, The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort
- Manager of the Year — Geraldine Farrulla, The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort
Small Hotel awardee:
- Manager of the Year — María Lugo-Heal, Combate Beach Resort
Allied Partners awardee:
- Manager of the Year — Vanessa Figueroa, Discover Puerto Rico
The Puerto Rico Tourism Company, main sponsor of the annual event, also recognized their outstanding employees:
- Employee 2021 — Gilcy Amorós
- Management 2021 — Ana Leticia Vélez
- Supervisor 2021 — Imaris Arocho
- Air And Maritime Access Rescue — Alejandro Caicedo
