Appointment of new President; new Area office will drive development pipeline for Hilton Family of Brands

Dubai, U.A.E, April 29, 2007: Hilton Hotels' International division has announced a new organisation structure that sees the creation of a new area responsible for the Middle East & Africa business, led by new Area President, Jean-Paul Herzog. With the company's strategic focus on development and growth, the new area covers a current portfolio of 44 hotels and a pipeline of 13 in the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco, Algeria, Africa and Indian Ocean, all headquartered in Dubai.

Highlighting the importance of the new area, Jean-Paul Herzog said: "The Middle East is one of the fastest growing tourism destinations in the world, and is a key development market for Hilton Hotels. The new organisational structure will allow us to continue our focus on operational excellence, while realising our development ambitions for the Hilton Family of Brands.

"We have a declared target to achieve 1,000 new international hotels in the next ten years. In the Middle East alone we have a signed pipeline of 11 new properties, and a development goal of an additional 20 new signings over the next five years. This will require us to grow faster than at anytime in our history. The new organisation structure and direction gives us clear advantages in terms of closeness to the marketplace along with local expertise and understanding, in addition to product offering and quality."

Herzog has two Operations Vice Presidents in the new Area; Essam Abouda covering Arabian Peninsula and Indian Ocean, and Simon Hasdell looking after Egypt, Levant and North Africa. The African hotels will report directly to Herzog. The Dubai Area management currently consists of 20 team members.

The integration last year of Hilton Hotels Corporation with Hilton International has opened up expansion opportunities for the Hilton Family of Brands in the Middle East. In addition to the luxury brands Conrad and The Waldorf-Astoria Collection, development plans include addressing the mid-market segment for the first time with brands such as Hampton by Hilton, Hilton Garden Inn and DoubleTree by Hilton.

The U.A.E in particular is a key development market for the company - the first phase of the new Hilton Ras Al Khaimah Resort & Spa, Hilton's second property in the Emirate officially opens this week with 151 deluxe villa suites, and one of the U.A.E's largest spas, all a stone's throw from the beach. The final phase of an additional 330 rooms will open in Q4 2008.

The next property to open in the U.A.E will be the 44-storey Hilton Jumeirah Beach Residence, with 371 rooms and apartments. This is Hilton's first residential offering in Dubai, scheduled to open in January 2008. Meanwhile, in Egypt, the Hilton Luxor Resort & Spa will re-open following a multi-million dollar facelift in Q1 2008, in what is commonly know as the 'world's greatest open-air museum - Luxor,' alongside the city's first spa. Hilton will also make its mark in Lebanon with the opening of the 162-room contemporary Hilton Beirut later this year.

Further Hilton properties under development are the boutique property, Hilton Dubai Beach Club, with 42 chalets opening in August 2008, and the first two Conrad hotels in the Gulf in Dubai and Abu Dhabi opening end 2009. The company's first foray into Qatar with Hilton Doha opens mid-2008. In addition new Hilton properties in Kuwait, and Amman and Aqaba in Jordan will open by 2009.

-Ends-

Note to Editors:
Hilton Hotels Corporation (NYSE:HLT) is the leading global hospitality company, with more than 2,800 hotels and 480,000 rooms in 76 countries and territories, including 100,000 team members worldwide. 

The More than 2,300 hotels are owned, managed or franchised in North America withcompany owns, manages or franchises a hotel portfolio of some of the best known and highly regarded brands, including Hilton, Conrad,  Doubletree, Embassy Suites Hotels, Hampton Inn, Hampton Inn & Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton Grand Vacations, Homewood Suites by Hilton and The Waldorf=Astoria Collection.

The company currently operates 44 hotels in the Middle East and Africa - 19 hotels in Egypt, nine hotels in the UAE, four in Saudi Arabia and one each in Oman and Kuwait, plus another ten hotels in Africa and the Indian Ocean.

Hilton's heritage in the Middle East stretches back nearly 50 years, when it became the first international hotel brand to open a property in Egypt - the Nile Hilton in 1959. It was  also the first international hotel brand to open a property in the UAE over 35 years ago - the Hilton Al Ain in 1971.

The 46-suite Qasr al Sharq, or 'Palace of the Orient' which opened last year is now a member of The Waldorf=Astoria Collection. The first phase of a Worldwide Resort in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE opened in January this year with 151 villa suites right on the beach.

New Hilton properties are under development in the U.A.E - the Residence, Beach Club and Conrad - all in Dubai - and in Abu Dhabi with its first Conrad - in addition to Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon and Jordan (Amman & Aqaba). Furthermore, the new-look Hilton Luxor Resort & Spa will open after a complete facelift in 2008.

The Hilton Family of Hotels adheres to founder Conrad Hilton's philosophy that, "It has been, and continues to be, our responsibility to fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality."  The company put a name to its unique brand of service that has made it the best known and most highly regarded hotel company:  be hospitable.    The philosophy is shared by all brands in the Hilton Family of Hotels, and is the inspiration for its overarching message of kindness and generosity

For more information about our company, please visit www.hiltonworldwide.com. To download images please visit www.vismedia-online.com

© Press Release 2007