PEI

Great George concierge receives national tourism award

The concierge at The Great George boutique hotel in Charlottetown has been recognized as the best at his job in Canada.

Ian Cheverie named Employee of the Year by the Tourism Industry Association of Canada

Ian Cheverie celebrates with his parents, Randy Cheverie and Jeanette MacAulay, after receiving the Employee of the Year award from the Tourism Industry Association of Canada. (Submitted by Ian Cheverie)

The concierge at The Great George boutique hotel in Charlottetown has been recognized as the best at his job in Canada.

Ian Cheverie was named Employee of the Year at the Canadian Tourism Awards last month in Gatineau, Que.

Cheverie has been a concierge at The Great George for five years. He is one of only nine Les Clefs d'Or members in the Maritimes. Les Clefs d'Or are an international association of concierges who have gone through two years of monthly specialized training sessions, that finishes off with a month-long national exam.

Rewarding job

Cheverie, who is also the customer experience manager at The Great George, created an hour-long historical walking tour of downtown Charlottetown and has helped people with marriage proposals.

He also once brought his grandmother's rocking chair to the hotel for a group of women from western P.E.I. who were having a card party and asked for one.

He said his job can be very rewarding, and he's thrilled to be recognized by the Tourism Industry Association of Canada.

"I actually went to school for theatre and shifted into this career because I get as much out of that feeling that the guest has whenever they've been blown away with the Great George, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island," he said.

"That feeling that they have, it's contagious."

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With files from Laura Chapin