Greek Hoteliers Stavros and Andreas Andreadis Honored with IHIF Lifetime Achievement Award
Greek hoteliers Stavros Andreadis and Andreas Andreadis of the Sani/Ikos Group were recently honored with the 24th Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual International Hospitality Investment Forum (IHIF) in Berlin, Germany.
Organized by Questex Hospitality Group, the IHIF brings together leaders in hospitality investment, development and operations to make the deals that shape recovery and growth in the sector.
The IHIF Lifetime Achievement Award recognises individuals whose careers have made a lasting impact on the hospitality sector.
“What Andreas and Stavros have achieved is quite incredible,” Alexi Khajavi, Group President, Questex Travel and Hospitality, said.
The award to Stavros and Andreas Andreadis is a recognition of their innovative work in the development and promotion of the Sani/Ikos Group in Greece and the Mediterranean and their significant contribution to restoring luxury hospitality as a profitable investment idea, which is an example in the history of Greek tourism as well as internationally.
“Creating and growing a brand what is seen across the industry as having standard bearing attention to detail, Sani & Ikos resorts are a credit to all of the hard work put in by Andreas and Stavros,” Khajavi added.
Sani: From a family business to a Group with 12 resorts in Greece and Mediterranean
Founded in the 70s by the Andreadis family, the Sani Resort started as a family business in Halkidiki with Stavros and Andreas taking over the management at a young age. With Stavros as chairman and Andreas as CEO, the Sani Resort developed into the fastest growing hotel group in the Mediterranean, with privately owned all-inclusive luxury resorts and an innovative operation model.
“We are honoured to receive the IHIF Lifetime Achievement Award alongside illustrious hospitality leaders and innovators. The Sani/Ikos story is the result of a lifetime of commitment, teamwork and passion for hospitality,” Stavros and Andreas Andreadis said on receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award.
In 2015, Stavros and Andreas partnered with Mathieu Guillemin and additional shareholders to create, own, and manage the combined Sani/Ikos Group. In seven years the Group managed to quadruple its size and assets. Today the Group has 12 resorts with Andreas Andreadis and Guilleman at the helm of the company and Stavros Andreadis in the position of Honorary President.
“This venture, with the support of our Co-CEO and Co-Managing Partner, Mathieu Guillemin, has marked record-breaking performance, and lead to a partnership in 2022 with GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund and one of the largest investors globally,” Stavros and Andreas Andreadis said.
The Sani/Ikos Group’s agreement with GIC is a transaction valued at 2.3 billion euros and is the largest agreement in the tourism industry in Europe since the time of the pandemic.
For the next five years, the Group’s investment plan exceeds 900 million euros to upgrade existing hotels and expand the Ikos brand in the Mediterranean with two more luxury all-inclusive resorts. Through this plan, over 2,900 new jobs will be created in the wider region by 2025.
“We are proud to show, through continued growth, that the resort sector is one of the most innovative hospitality segments, as well as an attractive opportunity for hospitality investors,” the Andreadis brothers concluded.
In 2022 two Sani/Ikos resorts were featured in Deloitte’s “The Hotel of the Future” report as prime examples of luxury design in the hospitality industry of the Mediterranean region.
Previous winners of the IHIF Lifetime Achievement Award include David Kong, former CEO of Best Western Hotels & Resorts; Sol Kerzner, founder and former Chairman of Kerzner International Holdings Limited; Bill Marriott, Chairman Emeritus at Marriott International; and Isadore Sharp, Founder and Chairman Four Seasons.
Held in Berlin on Wednesday, the annual International Hospitality Investment Forum (IHIF) took place under the headline theme “Fortune Favours the Bold” and was attended by 2,400 forward-thinking hospitality professionals, including investors, owners and developers.
Stavros and Andreas Andreadis: Key figures in Greek tourism
Stavros Andreadis has played an active role in various collective entities of the hospitality and tourism sector, serving as the president of the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) for eight consecutive years (2001−2008). In 2013, Ernst & Young pronounced him “Greek Pioneer Entrepreneur of the Year”.
Dr. Andreas Andreadis has served as president of the Hellenic Hotel Federation and president of SETE from 2011-2017 . Andreas initiated the creation of Marketing Greece SA, and INSETE (SETE Institute), two non-profit organizations dedicated to the official promotion of the Greek travel industry in cooperation with public and private institutions.
Stavros and Andreas Andreadis are both honorary presidents of SETE.