Visit Lake Charles is accepting nominations for the fifth annual ROSE (Recognition of Service Excellence) Awards, the annual celebration honoring the frontline workers who elevate the visitor experience in Southwest Louisiana. This year, a new category will recognize outstanding hospitality students at SOWELA Technical Community College. 

“Great destinations are built by great people,” said Kyle Edmiston, president and CEO of Visit Lake Charles. “The ROSE Awards allow us to recognize and celebrate the people who make it happen and the care, pride and professionalism that define their work.” 

Nominations are open through Friday, March 13, 2026. Categories include:  

  • Outstanding Banquet/Catering Professional – Includes event venue staff who serve guests, including bartenders at catered events. 

  • Outstanding Bartender – Includes bartenders in public food service establishments. 

  • Outstanding Casino Floor Professional – Includes casino hosts, floor runners and attendants, cashiers and tellers, cage and pit managers, and floor wait staff.  

  • Outstanding Culinary Professional/Chef – Includes chefs, executive chefs, sous chefs and banquet chefs in public food service establishments. 

  • Outstanding Culinary Service Professional – Includes waitstaff, bussers and other front-of-house professionals in public food service establishments. 

  • Outstanding Front Desk/Guest Service Professional – Includes frontline personnel such as front desk agents, guest service representatives, valets, bell staff, clerks and security personnel. 

  • Outstanding Hotel Sales Professional – Includes general managers, directors of sales, sales managers, group sales managers and convention services managers.  

  • Outstanding Housekeeping Professional – Includes housekeeping personnel at hotels, motels and casino resorts. 

  • Outstanding Transportation Professional – Includes drivers and personnel from charter bus companies, bicycle and carriage tours, rental car services and ride-share companies. 

  • NEW: Outstanding Hospitality Student – Open exclusively to SOWELA Technical Community College instructors, who may nominate students enrolled in the Hospitality Management, Culinary Arts, Culinary Medicine, Baking and Pastry Arts and the Casino dealer programs. 

An impartial panel of industry and community judges will review nominations and select winners in each category. Winners will be honored at the 2026 ROSE Awards ceremony on Thursday, May 7, 2026, at L’Auberge Casino Resort in Lake Charles.  

Since launching in 2022, the ROSE Awards have recognized 35 hospitality professionals. To learn more and submit a nomination, www.visitlakecharles.org/rose. 

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About Visit Lake Charles
Visit Lake Charles, the official destination marketing organization for Lake Charles/Southwest Louisiana, is the only organization in Southwest Louisiana providing advocacy, promotion, and education for the tourism industry. For more information on Visit Lake Charles and things to see and do in Louisiana’s Playground, log on to www.visitlakecharles.org.