Korbinian Kohler Named Hotelier of the Year 2023

Yesterday, during a festive evening gala with around 1,000 invited guests at Europa-Park in Rust (Baden-Wuerttemberg), entrepreneur Korbinian Kohler was honored with the “Hotelier of the Year” award for his outstanding achievements in building a unique hospitality world at Tegernsee. In the fall of 2022, Kohler opened the new indoor experience world Tegernsee Phantastisch (we reported in EAP 5/2022 & in the EAP news of 5 Sept 2022), for more than ten years the entrepreneur, who came to the hotel industry as a career changer, has been buying or leasing historic buildings in his Bavarian home and transforming them with a lot of creativity into hospitable gems, such as the Spa & Resort Bachmair Weissach. The laudatory speech for Korbinian Kohler was held by former German Federal President Christian Wulff.

Korbinian Kohler © © Bachmair Weissach

The Hotelier of the Year Award has been presented annually since 1990 and is considered one of the most important honors in the industry. It is sponsored by the ahgz Allgemeine Hotel- und Gastronomie-Zeitung and the Frankfurt-based dfv Mediengruppe. The criteria for the award are the courage to take entrepreneurial risks, the will for continuity, innovative spirit and sustainable economic success. Previous award winners also include Dr. Caroline von Kretschmann (Europäischer Hof Heidelberg, 2022), as well as Thomas, Michael and Ann-Kathrin Mack, co-partners of Europa-Park.

Jury chairman Rolf Westermann, chief editor of ahgz, explained the decision as follows: “Korbinian Kohler has become a hotel visionary at Tegernsee as a career changer. With his diverse projects from the luxury hotel Spa & Resort Bachmair Weissach to the rustic mountain hotel Altes Wallberghaus and the young concept Bussi Baby to the multimedia world Tegernsee Phantastisch, he has created his own cosmos. Kohler is also extremely creative and diverse in terms of gastronomy, including Levante cuisine at the Clubhaus Bachmair Weissach, the Japanese restaurant Mizu Sushi Bar and the Boom Boom Restaurant with Southeast Asian cuisine. He has built a staff house for employees, and he supports them with benefits such as supplementary health insurance, private accident insurance, and financial contributions to their pensions.” (eap)