Jessica King Scholarship

Jessica King had a salient international career in the hotel industry. She helped open the Cheyenne Hotel for Disneyland Paris, assisted with the opening and running of a hotel in Malta, and was the guest relations officer for the Omni Hotel in Hong Kong. She became the assistant manager of the Marriott/Renaissance Resort in Maui, and later moved to Cap d'Ail, France where she was the assistant manager of a Marriott property and a leadership trainer for Marriott employees in Western and Eastern Europe. Jessica moved on to help open the Copenhagen Marriott, and was the front office manager of the hotel when she met her untimely death.

On October 8, 2001, Jessica was tragically killed, with 117 others, when Scandinavian Airlines flight 686 crashed into a smaller aircraft on takeoff from Milan, Italy. She was the only American killed in the accident. She was returning to Copenhagen after spending a romantic and memorable weekend in Milan visiting her fiancee, Mario, with whom she planned to live the following year. This tragedy cut short the life of a extraordinarily talented woman. Jessica held diplomas in executive hotel management from Maxim's Hotel Management School and in management systems from the International European Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management in Paris. She was fluent in French, Italian, and Spanish, and was conversant in Cantonese and Maltese.

Jessica's interests also reflected her unflagging spirit of adventure. She climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and trekked through Nepal and Vietnam, among other locales. She was an active outdoors and sports enthusiast, pursuing karate—where she was one belt away from black— tennis, scuba diving, and a variety of other sports. An avid and talented painter, Jessica created watercolors inspired by those she met on her exotic travels.

The King family created the fund to honor Jessica's spirit and inspire other young hospitality students and professionals. It is their hope that the scholarship will enable talented, driven, and adventurous young Americans to have a life-changing international experience and succeed in the international hospitality field.
The Kings selected AIPT to administer the scholarship because they felt the mission of AIPT's Americans Abroad program best represented Jessica's values. The program's aim is to have Americans develop a deeper understanding of other cultures by increasing the number of American trainees living and working abroad. Scholarships will be awarded annually in the amount of $2,000 each to candidates selected competitively. The scholarships will assist recipients with travel and related program costs.

If you are interested in applying for the scholarship, complete this application.
If you are interested in making a donation to the Jessica King Scholarship Fund or to AIPT, please see the AIPT donation page.