Kilkenny man named Manager of the Year at luxury Ashford Castle
He is originally from Ballyhale
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A Kilkenny man has been named Manager of the Year for 2020 at the five-star Ashford Castle in Mayo.
Michael Duggan was revealed as this year’s worthy winner in recognition of his exceptional and loyal service to the Ashford Estate over the past 37 years.
Originally from Ballyhale, in Kilkenny, Michael leads Ashford Castle’s hotel operations team. As head of hotel operations and project management, Michael plays a key part in the daily running of the luxury Mayo resort and supports the hotel’s various departments with their operational needs, which range from linen to crockery, stationery to maintenance spares and all the other unique and unusual requests that comes his way.
5 Star Ranking from Forbes Travel Guide for Ashford Castle Cong Published: Tuesday, 16 February 2021 14:40
Forbes Travel Guide has just announced its Star Rating winners for 2021 and, for the second consecutive year, Ashford Castle is the only hotel in Ireland to achieve a Five-Star ranking in the annual honours list, the top rating possible and the ultimate gold standard in hospitality. Ashford Castle is part of an elite group of luxury hotels around the world that have earned this coveted Five-Star Forbes Travel Guide (FTG) ranking.
Niall Rochford, general manager at Ashford Castle said:
“After a tremendously difficult year for the hospitality industry, the team as Ashford Castle couldn’t have asked for better news at this time. This is arguably the most coveted accolade for any hotel and receiving the news that we have retained our Five-Star rating in the 2021 Forbes Travel Guide is hugely rewarding. We truly have the best team and I couldn’t be more proud.
Meet the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award winners
Current and previous winners of Travel Weekly s LIfetime Achievement Awards at this year s virtual Readers Choice Awards. Photo Credit: Travel Weekly
This year Travel Weekly honored five people with Lifetime Achievement Awards: Brad and Van Anderson, the founders of Avoya Travel; Jackie Friedman, the president of Nexion Travel Group; and Beatrice and Stanley Tollman, the husband-and-wife team who founded the Travel Corporation.
Brad and Van Anderson, the founders of Avoya Travel. Photo Credit: Travel Weekly
Brad and Van Anderson
Brothers Brad and Van Anderson are the co-founders of Avoya Travel, a family-owned business that traces its roots to a Hawaiian travel company. Van got started in the travel industry when his parents, Pat and Pal, had him stickering brochures for that firm; Brad began his career in travel in 1973 working for his parents’ retail agency in California.