Philip F. Anschutz, owner of The Anschutz Corporation, will be presented with the ALIS Lifetime Achievement Award during the 22nd-annual Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) held Jan. 23-25 at the JW Marriott/Ritz-Carlton Los Angeles L.A. Live in Los Angeles.
The award is presented to an individual who has made significant contributions to the hospitality industry through his or her actions, deeds and great accomplishments.
“It certainly is an honor for Mr. Anschutz, considering there are some pretty accomplished people involved with ALIS when it comes to development and buying and selling of hotels,” said Steve Bartolin, chairman, The Broadmoor hotel, who spoke on behalf of Anschutz, whose company owns the property.
The Anschutz Corporation, headquartered in Denver, operates in a number of fields, ranging from communications, transportation and natural and renewable resources to real estate, lodging and entertainment. Its hospitality industry holdings are mostly controlled by its subsidiary, Xanterra Travel Collection. Xanterra holds the franchise rights to operate resorts inside several major national parks including Crater Lake (Crater Lake Lodge), Death Valley (Oasis at Death Valley) and the Grand Canyon (Bright Angel Lodge, El Tovar Hotel, Maswik Lodge and Phantom Ranch). Xanterra also operates the Grand Canyon Railway.
The company also owns The Broadmoor-Sea Island Company, which operates The Broadmoor hotel, The Broadmoor Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway and the Sea Island resort.
Anschutz also owns the JW Marriott/Ritz-Carlton Los Angeles L.A. Live. Bartolin said Anschutz decided to get into hospitality for different reasons. “He sees his ownership of The Broadmoor and Sea Island as long-term stewardship of these iconic and unique resorts,” Bartolin said. “With Xanterra Parks and Resorts, it harkens back to his railroad days with Union Pacific. He was always fascinated how Fred Harvey developed restaurants and hotels along the railroad lines and in our national parks. That company is the foundation of what Xanterra is today. With the JW and Ritz, here in Los Angeles, he felt it was a complementary and profitable component of the overall development of LA Live, and these hotels have proven to be just that.”
Jeff Higley, president, The BHN Group, which produces ALIS, said, “Philip Anschutz is a titan of industry who has influenced entire economies as well as directly and indirectly greatly impacted the hotel industry throughout his career. Through energy, transportation, entertainment, real estate and the many other holdings he has touched during the past six decades, Mr. Anschutz has provided people with a means and motivation to utilize hotels. His preference for iconic hotels, such as the J.W. Marriott/Ritz-Carlton Los Angeles at L.A. Live—the home of ALIS for more than a decade—as well as The Broadmoor in Colorado and Sea Island in Georgia, gives him a unique view of an industry for which he is extraordinarily passionate.”
The company also owns AEG (Anschutz Entertainment Group), a sporting and music entertainment presenter. It is the owner of the LA Galaxy soccer team and the Los Angeles Kings hockey team, and organizes music festivals including Coachella and Stagecoach.
Anschutz is a governor of the National Hockey League and Major League Soccer and an executive member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. He serves as chairman of the board of The Anschutz Foundation; an emeritus trustee of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; a lifetime honorary trustee of The American Museum of Natural History, New York; and an alumnus member of the Smithsonian National Board, Washington, DC.
