More than 600 nominees and a crowd of 1,200 of hospitality’s elite gathered at The Star this week for the AHA NSW 2019 Awards for Excellence to crown this year’s industry icons.

As testament to the quality of hospitality leaders in the Hunter region, Newcastle talent and Operations and Marketing Director for Hunt Hospitality, Ricci-Lee Wheeler, was crowned the coveted Industry Rising Star amongst a competitive array of nominees.

The award recognises an industry leader who has displayed professional excellence within hospitality and is passionate about the industry, professional development and career growth.

Overseeing the marketing and operations for The Hunt Hospitality’s portfolio, including The Kent Hotel, The Duke Hotel, The Seabreeze Hotel, Ocean View Hotel and Finnian’s Tavern, has allowed Ricci-Lee to have a pivotal impact on the quality of hospitality in the region.

She has implemented a range of successful marketing and promotional campaigns for the businesses and for charity, including a Tinny Full of Tinnies fundraising campaign for Variety Children’s Charity that raised over $100,000, a Scavenger Hunt campaign that boosted revenue and staff training program based on mystery shopping reports.

Ricci-Lee has played a significant part in the industry over the past 11 years, as a top three national performing Media Sales employee at Southern Cross Austereo. With these skills and knowledge, Ricci is now passionate about continuing to bring ground-breaking marketing and sales strategies to the Hunter and Australian hospitality industries and creating the most diverse, unique, people-focused hospitality assets in the country.

Ricci-Lee said she is thrilled to be crowned Industry Rising Star for 2019, which was the only award in her category across NSW.

“I am truly honoured to be acknowledged as an elite within the competitive hospitality industry,” Ricci-Lee said.

“The AHA NSW Awards for Excellence are recognised as the most prestigious awards programme in the hospitality industry, and it feels unreal to be standing there beside truly deserving individuals who work so hard to continually offer unique experiences, culinary delights and great entertainment throughout regional and metro NSW.”

The awards honour the achievement of excellence in NSW hotels across a variety of segments including accommodation, dining, entertainment, marketing, social media, community service and talented employees.

The Awards for Excellence Presentation Ceremony was held at The Star on Tuesday 19 November.

IMAGE | Operations and Marketing Director for Hunt Hospitality, Ricci-Lee Wheeler, was crowned the coveted Industry Rising Star at the AHA NSW 2019 Awards for Excellence 2019.