REVEALED: The world’s best hotel receptionist for 2021

Service bell on the hotel reception. Concierge Bell.

The World’s Best Receptionist for 2021 has been announced at a virtual ceremony hosted by the International Association of Front Office Managers and Hotel Managers (AICR).

Over the past eight months, a vast number of candidates competed in their respective countries (including Australia) to become national champions, with more than 1,000 hotels worldwide submitting their representatives.

Below is the list of the 12 finalists:

  • Lucy McNamara – Crown Metropol Melbourne (Australia)
  • Deborah Baranow – Park Hyatt Vienna (Austria)
  • Jessica Lian – Shanghai Business School/Grand Hyatt Shanghai (China)
  • Antoine Pettier – Hotel Aston La Scala, Nice (Côte d’Azur)
  • Lara Dröge – Fairmont Vier Jahreszeiten, Hamburg (Germany)
  • Nicolas Zalonis – Hotel Le Massif Courmayeur (Italy)
  • Clémence Mauray – Four Seasons Hotel George V (Paris)
  • Iveesha Choudhary – Sheraton Grand Doha Resort & Convention Hotel (Qatar)
  • Vithya Subramaniam – Marina Bay Sands (Singapore)
  • Max Vetter – Baur au Lac Zurich (Switzerland)
  • Marie Therese Olaguer – Mandarin Oriental Jumeira, Dubai (UAE)
  • Katharina Strasser – The Gleneagles Hotel, Auchterarder (UK)

The 12 national champions then battled it out for the David Campbell Trophy in the international finals, with Baur au Lac Zurich’s Max Vetter crowned the World’s Best Receptionist for 2021.

Max Vetter

Vithya Subramaniam from Marina Bay Sands in Singapore and Lara Dröge from Fairmont Vier Jahreszeiten in Hamburg were named the second and third runners-up respectively.

AICR councillor and chief judge Egidio Marcato said: “The AICR World’s Best Receptionist has become a global competition and receptionists from all around the world are able to show their service skills in front of a renowned jury.”

The competition format was created in 1995, and usually takes place face to face with a live role-play at the heart of the challenge. However, the competition was redesigned this year to be fully virtual due to COVID-19.


Featured image source: iStock/dogayusufdokdok

Latest News

  • Destinations
  • News

APT Launches 2025 Asia Adventures

APT has launched its Asia Adventures for 2025, including new luxury holidays in India, Sri Lanka and Japan. Five new tours lead guests to the highlights of India, including a seven-night cruise along the rarely travelled Lower Ganges aboard the Ganges Voyager. Further south, Sri Lanka’s greatest destinations are revealed on a new 15-day Land […]

  • Cruise
  • Luxury
  • News

Seabourn announces Western Kimberley Traditional Owners as Godparents of Seabourn Pursuit

Seabourn has named Western Kimberley Traditional Owners, the Wunambal Gaambera, as Godparents of the ultra-luxury purpose-built Seabourn Pursuit. It is the first cruise line to appoint Traditional Owners as godparents of a ship. Seabourn Pursuit embarks on its inaugural season in the Kimberley region this June. The naming ceremony will take place on Seabourn Pursuit’s […]

  • Luxury

Malolo Island Resort opens brand new Spa

Fiji’s Malolo Island has added another string to its bow – opening its $1.3 million day spa on Thursday, 18th April 2024. (Lead Image: matriarch Rosie Whitton with spa staff) Located at the edge of the resort’s luscious patch of tropical rainforest, the new “Leilani’s Spa” adds another level of elevated experiences to Malolo’s already […]