An emotional moment for the Mack family and more than a thousand guests at the Berlin Hotel Intercontinental. Thomas, Michael and Ann-Kathrin Mack, co-owners of Europa-Park in Rust, won the prestigious “Hotelier of the Year” award. The hotel industry celebrated the Baden family, who are now making hotel history with around 5,800 beds. The Allgemeine Hotel- und Gastronomie-Zeitung (AHGZ) newspaper has been honouring outstanding services in the hotel industry with this notable award since 1990.

Thomas Mack has a diploma as a Hotelier (Hotelfachschule Luzern) and, among other things, is responsible for the hotel resort, catering, confertainment and entertainment. Thomas Mack: “For us as a family business, for me and my siblings, the “Hotelier of the Year” award is a dream come true. As a team made up of the younger generation, we have achieved this success together. We are also delighted to be following in the footsteps of our father Roland, and our uncle Jürgen Mack, with this award.”

Michael Mack has a diploma in business management and is now mainly responsible for the internal design and construction department, marketing, sales & digital, operations & services, and subsidiaries MackNeXT, Mack Animation, VR Coaster and Mack Rides. Michael Mack is a creative genius who can take credit for the comprehensive themes running throughout the hotels and the clever storytelling. His sister Ann-Kathrin Mack is an architect and has been working for Mack Solutions since 2017, which is Europa-Park’s design arm that creates complete turnkey concepts, both for its own and other theme parks. She was jointly responsible for the ‘Krønasår’ hotel project.

In his address, DFB president Fritz Keller emphasised: “The Mack family introduced ideas, visions and a willingness to take risks to the family business, and had to battle against some resistance. But you never stopped following your dreams.”

Roland Mack, creator of Europa-Park’s big success story and proud father, was also in attendance. It was exactly 20 years ago that the mechanical engineer Roland Mack won the “Special Award of Hotelier of the Year”.