STEVE K GUPTA

Mr. Steve Gupta came to Canada with little money but big dreams. His business began with the purchase of a truck stop in Port Hope, Ontario. With Mr. Gupta's vision and leadership, this truck stop became number one in diesel sales in the country within a few short months. The location was then transformed by Mr. Gupta who added a hotel and various restaurants to the property; making the site a destination rather than a mere stop-over. Mr. Gupta continued to add hotels to his portfolio across the Greater Toronto Area, and has now built quite the empire in the area. His current hotel portfolio consists of 10 hotels under the flags of Choice Hotels, Marriott and Hilton, with two more hotels under development slated to open in early 2011. Mr. Gupta is the only hotelier who opened 3 new hotels in 2009, when the country was experiencing a recession.

Mr. Gupta is a visionary and a risk-taker. His various hotels have been widely recognized with many different awards. In 2009, he won the Marriott Outstanding Contribution Award, as well as Developer of the Year by Hilton. In 2010, Mr. Gupta became the first Canadian and the only South Asian to have won the prestigious Marriott Horizon Partnership Circle award. He has been granted various other distinctions including the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award and the Regional Hotel Company of the Year from Hotelier Magazine. Mr. Gupta has also been profiled numerous times, including publications in the National Post and the Toronto Star newspapers, as well as a profile in Maclean's Magazine written by Peter C. Newman.

Mr. Steve Gupta is a Canadian icon and is the definition of a great story of success. He works diligently to set new standards of excellence and he ensures that anything and everything that represents his name has his flair of brilliance. His commitment to service and quality is what sets him apart from all other developers.