Los Angeles (31 October 2017): The International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC), in partnership with the Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS), is proud to present Wing T. Chao with the 2018 Pioneer Award, an award established in 1996 to recognize individuals who have made an outstanding contribution, achievement and or improvement in the hospitality industry.
Chao is an internationally renowned master planner, architect and developer. He is currently working on numerous multi-billion dollar integrated resorts, theme parks, hotels, retail, entertainment, commercial, convention and exhibition projects.
Chao began his career at Disney in 1972 and went on to become Vice Chairman of Development for Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, Asia Pacific. He was also Executive Vice President for Master Planning, Architecture & Design at Walt Disney Imagineering.
During the course of his 37 year career at Disney, Wing T. Chao oversaw the master planning, design and development of its worldwide businesses worth over $12 billion. He led development teams consisting of Disney Imagineers and the world’s leading architects and designers on projects including Disney theme parks, 100,000 new and renovated resort hotel rooms, 200 restaurants, 4 million-square-feet of retail space, 3 million-square-feet of entertainment venues, 4 million-square-feet of office buildings, 2 million-square-feet of mixed-used development and numerous convention and exhibition centers at Walt Disney Company’s resorts in California, Florida, Hawaii, Tokyo, Paris and Hong Kong. Chao also directed the design for the four Disney cruise ships.
Stephen Hennis, ISHC Pioneer Award Chair, commented, “As ISHC celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2018, we wanted to honor an individual known for innovation in hospitality. Wing T. Chao without a doubt has had an incredible career and brought to life inconceivable ideas through his work at Disney that will impact generations to come. Wing is still actively contributing to the hospitality industry and continues to drive innovation. We are honored to present him with the ISHC Pioneer Award at ALIS.”
Chao is greatly admired in the hospitality industry and he is highly respected in the architecture and design community. He has received numerous awards and accolades for his achievements including, but not limited to, the American Institute of Architects' Outstanding Achievement Award and the Legend Award by Contract Magazine, the leading publication for the commercial design industry.
