 UICHCO
(Union Internationale des Concierges des Hotel Les Clefs d’Or)
On October 6, 1929, eleven Concierges from the big hotels of Paris formed a "society" that allowed them to exchange ideas about service. With it, they discovered that they were able to help each other more effectively, in addition to providing dignified services for their guests throughout the city. Other European countries began to form similar societies.
On April 25, 1952, representatives of 9 European nations traveled to Cannes to carry out the first congress and to create the UEPGH “Union Europeene des Portiers des Grands Hotels”. Ferdinand Gillet, by then concierge of Hotel Scribe in Paris, was the strong driving force behind turning this dream into reality. This achievement earned for him the title “Father of Les Clefs d’Or”
In 1970, UEPGH became UIPGH “Union Internationale des Portiers des Grands Hotels”, a clear indication of the fact that the profession was growing not only in Europe, but in different countries all around the world.
Again in1994, UIPGH changed its name to UICO “Union Internationale Les Clefs d’Or” and finally in 1998, it changed its name for what is known today as the UICHCO “Union Internationale des Concierges d'Hotels Les Clefs d'Or”, constituted by 3500 members in 37 countries like Germany, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Korea, China, Denmark, Spain, the United States, Finland, France, Great Britain, Greece, Holland, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Morocco, Mexico, Norway, New Zealand, the Philippines, Portugal, Rumania, Russia, Turkey, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland and Czech Republic. |
