During a spectacular Gala Night held at the Radisson SAS Bay Point Resort on the 28th November fifty three Island Hotels Group employees were awarded for their outstanding performance in ten different categories including friendliness, the best smile, eco initiatives, creativity and humanitarian acts.

The categories in which employees could be nominated by their respective managers and colleagues were designed in line with the Island Hotels Group culture and values and are meant to encourage the employees of the group to strive towards continually achieving the objectives encompassed in the ideology surrounding each category.  From the 53 nominees overall winners for each category were selected by an appointed committee.

This grand event was the highlight of a year of hard work for many employees following the launch earlier this year of the PEARL Awards, a recognition scheme originally suggested by Ms Jennifer Muscat, an Accounts Clerk within the Group who submitted her idea as part of a Creativity & Innovation competition held within the group.

The Group's Human Resources Team, headed by Ms Christina Galea, further developed this idea into the Pearl Awards, incorporating a range of ten award categories ensuring that employees at all levels and from all areas of responsibility have the opportunity to be rewarded for excellence and outstanding performance. The grand finale was the announcement of the final 10 Overall Pearl Awardees who received a crafted crystal award to commemorate their success. Amongst other gifts, all 53 nominees were also given a pin reading the acronym 'PEARL' as a symbol for them to continue to act as Champions of the company's values every day. All nominess and overall winners were also given cash gifts as part of their prize.

The overall Pearl Award winners on the night were Ms Elysia Scicluna as the Smile a Mile Champion, Mr Manuel Aquilina as the Outstanding Performance Champion, Ms Audrey Muscat and Ms Marika Abela as the PrecEyes Champions, Mr Christopher Simon Etim as the Friendliness Champion, Mr Mark Caruana as the Eco Champion, Ms Alexia Vella as the STAR Champion, Mr Gordon Ciantar as the Craetivity Champion, Ms Claire Vella as the Newcomer Champion, Mr Stefan Meilaq as the Humanitarian Champion, Mr Keith Farrugia & Mr Joe Cleaven Grech as the Team Champions.

Mr. Winston J Zahra, director of operations of the Group comments, “It was a memorable night for everyone. The Pearl awards recognize people within our team who excel at portraying the values of our company as they go about their work. This annual event will serve to encourage and motivate our employees to genuinely live the values that we strive to operate by on a daily basis. The feeling of satisfaction and pride during the award night was fantastic and it will be a night to remember for everyone and most especially the 53 nominees who were recongised.”