FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LEN WOLMAN NAMED CONNECTICUT’S ‘TOURISM PERSON OF THE YEAR’

Chair and CEO of Waterford Group Honored at 10th Annual
Governor’s Conference on Tourism

WATERFORD, CT (April 10) --- Len Wolman, chairman and CEO of the Waterford Group, has been named Connecticut’s “Tourism Person of the Year.” The award was presented by Arthur Diedrick, Chairman of Development, Office of the Governor, on April 8 at the 16th Annual Unity Dinner during the 10th Annual Governor’s Conference on Tourism.

Under Len Wolman’s leadership (along with his brother, Mark Wolman who heads up Wolman Construction), the Waterford Group, through building and managing a broad range of hotels, has become one of the most successful companies in the lodging industry. With a reputation for bold, innovative entrepreneurship, he has overseen Waterford’s growth since 1980 from one hotel management contract to 30 properties nationwide, 17 of which are in Connecticut, with a concentration in the Mystic-New London region.

In receiving the prestigious honor, Wolman was cited for his substantial contribution to the advancement of travel and tourism in the state and his role in communicating the economic, cultural and social importance of the travel industry. Most recently, Wolman has played a leadership role in the development in Hartford of Adriaen’s Landing, the Connecticut Convention Center and the $75-million Hartford Marriott Downtown which will open in 2005. Adriaen’s Landing is considered to be the centerpiece of a major economic revitalization initiative for the state capital. With the opening of the Hartford Marriott Downtown, Waterford properties will represent a total of 2,145 hotel rooms in the state.

Responding to the award Wolman said: “It is a great honor to receive this recognition. The Waterford Group is proud to work with the governor, the department of economic and community development and the travel industry to make every effort to ensure that Connecticut reaps every possible benefit from this most important industry. Particularly in uncertain economic times, it is essential to move forward with confidence and build for the future.”

In addition to the ambitious Adriaen’s Landing project, Waterford built and opened the $48-million, 285-room Mystic Marriott Hotel & Spa in Groton in 2001, a full-service property recognized as a major addition to the area’s hospitality industry and, at the time, one of the largest properties to be built in Connecticut in a decade. Waterford has been involved in developing projects totaling more than $1.5 billion, overseeing the management of operations generating annual revenue in excess of $800 million. Len Wolman also was instrumental in the development of Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut.

Len Wolman was born and raised on a farm in a region of South Africa that later became a resort called The Rocks. After military service in the South African Airforce, he attended the Witwatersand Hotel School in Johannesburg where several years later, in 1993, he was honored for his accomplishments with the school’s Special Achievement Award, given to only 11 other people in 25 years.

Wolman’s early career included running a family resort in South Africa and management positions with a large hotel company in that country. In the United States, he experienced every aspect of hotel management while holding executive positions with such major companies as Westin, Hyatt, Four Seasons and Holiday Inn before joining Waterford Hotel Group in 1986.

A Certified Hotel Administrator, he is a member of the American Hotel & Motel Association and the American Management Association, and a founding member and executive board member of the non-profit group Mystic Coast & Country, which promotes tourism in Southeastern Connecticut and western Rhode Island. Wolman also served as chairman of the Industry

Advisory Board of the University of New Haven’s School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism and is a board member of the New York University Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Travel Administration.

Wolman is founder of a hotel technical program taught at Grasso Technical High School in Groton, a past board member of the Standards Committee for Residence Inn by Marriott, and has served on the boards of the Connecticut Hotel and Restaurant Association and the Hartford Convention and Visitors Bureau.

For further information about Len Wolman, contact Waterford Group, LLC., 914 Hartford Turnpike, Waterford, CT 06385; telephone 860-442-4559, fax 860-437-7752 or visit the company’s website at www.waterfordgroup.net.