Mr. Belz is President and Chairman of Peabody Hotel Group (PHG), the hotel development and management division of Belz Enterprises (Belz) of Memphis, Tennessee. Belz’ holdings include more than 25 million square feet of developed property, ranging from regional malls and community shopping centers to factory outlet malls, office, industrial and residential developments, hotels and a regional airport.

Mr. Belz also served as Co-President and Chief Operating Officer of Belz and had primary development responsibility for many of the Belz companies and projects, including Rivergate Industrial Port, Interstate Industrial Park, Air Industrial Park, Democrat Square, and Shelby Oaks Corporate Park in the Memphis area, as well as other projects outside of Memphis, including development of The Peabody Orlando, a world-class convention hotel. Mr. Belz has over 30 years experience in project planning, administration, land use planning, architecture, engineering, financing, construction, marketing and management of various Belz projects.

As Chairman and President of Peabody Hotel Group, Mr. Belz has personally overseen development, construction, renovation and management of more than a dozen hotels during the last twenty years, including The Peabody Orlando, The Peabody Memphis and The Peabody Little Rock. He is not only the visionary who has been responsible for overseeing all phases of the actual development, design and construction of the hotels and ultimately their day-to-day- operations. Under the leadership of Mr. Belz, privately owned Peabody Hotel Group has become one of the nation's leading hotel development and management companies, specializing in profitably directing the operations of high-quality professional hotels and bringing to the meetings industry standards of operations and service delivery which are second to none.

All three Peabody-flagged hotels, The Peabody Orlando, The Peabody Memphis and The Peabody Little Rock, have both the Forbes Four Star rating and the AAA Four Diamond Rating. Over the years, under the leadership of Mr. Belz, all three Peabody Hotels have received numerous other industry honors and accolades, some of which are listed below.

In addition to his leadership of Belz and Peabody Hotel Group, Mr. Belz has been actively involved over the course of his career in industry, educational, religious, and charitable organizations to which he has devoted his time, talents and resources.  Some of these affiliations, past and present, are the following:

• President, Tennesseans for Better Government
  
• Whitehouse Conference on Travel and Tourism
  
• Board of Directors, Memphis Area Chamber of Commerce
  
• Board of Directors, Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau
  
• Young Presidents Organization
  
• Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Planning Commission
  
• Board of Directors, First Commercial Bank
  
• Board of Directors, Regions Bank
  
• Board of Directors, The Med Foundation
  
• Board of Directors, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art
  
• Board of Advisors, Kemmons Wilson School at the University of Memphis
  
• Board of Directors, Memphis Art Festival
  
• Board of Trustees, Baron Hirsch Synagogue
  
• Board of Trustees, Hebrew Academy
  
• International Council of Shopping Centers
  
• Agricenter Commission
  
• Lambda Alpha
  
• Urban Land Institute

Mr. Belz has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Memphis with a major in Real Estate and a minor in Finance. He and his wife, Julie, live in Memphis with their three children, Hannah, Joshua and Sarah.

Peabody Hotels Awards & Accolades

The Peabody Orlando

• Forbes Four Star Award
  
• AAA Four Diamond Award
  
• Conde Nast Traveler's Best 500 Hotels in the World
  
• Zagat's Top 100 Hotels in the USA
  
• Ivy Award Recipient
  
• Corporate & Incentive Travel's Award of Excellence
  
• Facilities & Destinations' Hotels on the Elite List Award
  
• Reed Travel Group's Office Hotel Guide's Superior Deluxe Rating
  
• Medical Meetings' Merit & Distinction Award
  
• Meeting News Planners' Choice Award
  
• Meetings & Conventions' Gold Key Award
  
• Meetings & Conventions' Hall of Fame
  
• Meetings South's Stars of the South Award
  
• Successful Meetings' Pinnacle Award
  
• Corporate Meetings & Incentives' Paragon Award
  
• Association Meeting's Inner Circle Award
  
• Corporate Meetings & Incentives' Top 10 Hotels for Meeting Services Nationwide
  
• Men's Health 10 Best Hotels for Fit Business Travelers
  
• Lodging Hospitality's Top Performing Suburban Properties
  
• Top 10 Most Beautiful Buildings in Central Florida
  
• American Hotel & Lodging Association Guest Relations Award
  
• AAA Four-Diamond Award, Dux Restaurant
  
• Wine Spectator's Award of Excellence, Dux Restaurant & Capriccio Grill
  
• Meetings & Conventions' Gold Platter Award, Banquets/Catering
  

The Peabody Memphis

• Forbes Four Star Award
  
• AAA Four Diamond Award
  
• Forbes Traveler's 15 Top Foodie Hotels
  
• National Geographic Traveler's Stay List
  
• Travel + Leisure's Top Business Hotels in America
  
• Travel + Leisure's Top 100 Hotels in North America
  
• Southern Living's Reader's Choice Awards for Best City Hotel
  
• Meetings South's Best of the South Award and the 2006 "Planner's Best Bets" Award for Best Hotel Decor
  
• Meetings & Conventions' Gold Key Award
  
• Successful Meetings' Pinnacle Award
  
• Convention South's Readers Choice Award
  
• Corporate and Incentive Travel's Award of Excellence
  
• Facilities & Destinations' Hotels on the Elite List Award
  
• Forbes Four Star Award, Chez Philippe
  
• Food & Wine's Top 50 Hotel Restaurants for Chez Philippe
  
• AAA Four Diamond Award, Chez Philippe
  
• Wine Spectator's Award of Excellence, Chez Philippe
  
• Distinguished Restaurants of North America (DiRoNA) Award of Excellence,Chez Philippe and Capriccio Grill

The Peabody Little Rock

• Forbes Four Star Award
  
• AAA Four Diamond Award
  
• Arkansas Democrat Gazette's Best Hotel in Arkansas
  
• Meetings South's Stars of the South Award
  
• Interior Landscape Award
  
• Wine Spectator's Award of Excellence, Capriccio Grill