Hilton Hotels set to double Middle East & Africa portfolio by 2012

Current opening pipeline of 16 hotels in MEA

Focus destinations for Hilton Family of Brand development are U.A.E, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia; Hilton Family hotel in every African capital city

2008 openings; Hilton Luxor Resort & Spa and Hilton Jumeirah Beach Residence

Dubai, May 01, 2008: Hilton Hotels Corporation (HHC), the leading global hospitality company, has earmarked the G.C.C as one of its top ten global development markets worldwide, in particular the U.A.E, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

HHC was the fastest growing international hotel company in 2007, with over 32,000 rooms opened. This milestone underscores the company's stated goal in 2007 to add 1,000 hotels to its international portfolio in ten years.  Currently the company boasts the industry's largest global development pipeline for any U.S-based hotel company, and the strongest in the company's history - HHC has more than 900 hotels and 120,000 rooms in its development pipeline globally, a 16 per cent increase on the previous year.

Ahead of the 2008 Arabian Hotel Investment Conference and Arabian Travel Market where Hilton is both speaking and participating, Jean-Paul Herzog, President, Hilton Hotels, Middle East & Africa commented, "The G.C.C presents significant growth opportunities for the Hilton Family of Brands. We currently have an opening pipeline of 16 Conrad Hotels & Resorts and Hilton brand hotels in Middle East & Africa, with the goal of signing an additional 20 management agreements and doubling our portfolio by 2012."

In addition to the key cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, development in locations such as Ras Al Khaimah, Riyadh and Bahrain is a focus of HHC's development strategy.

HHC announced the signing of two management agreements in Africa recently, marking the company's entry into Ghana and Cape Verde, an archipelago of ten islands in the Atlantic Ocean, off the west coast of Africa.  The 186-room Hilton Accra Airport City and the 268-room Hilton Cape Verde are expected to open in 2010. These developments are testament of HHC's ambition to have a Hilton Family hotel in every African capital city.

The next few years will see the Middle East's leading hotel brand (ref. BDRC 2007 survey), Hilton, focus on bringing consumer choice to the industry forefront through the rollout of select Hilton Family of Brands.

Ivor McBurney, Vice President, Hilton Hotels, Development, Middle East said, "In addition to our core product offering of Hilton brand properties, our immediate expansion plans will drive the presence of our luxury brands, The Waldorf=Astoria Collection and Conrad. We are also identifying opportunities for Doubletree by Hilton, an upscale full service product and Hilton Garden Inn, a midmarket brand - all affordable accommodation, while simultaneously carrying the quality assurance associated with the Hilton name." 

"Our belief is that consumers should be able to choose between a multitude of brands, each offering a different product for a different market segment. Consumer choice is key to future growth," continued McBurney.

HHC plans to launch each brand with a customised development and marketing strategy to ensure relevance in each market in terms of positioning, facilities and services. Contemporary luxury will be championed in the gateway cities of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, with the Conrad Abu Dhabi and Dubai expected to open in 2010, each with 500 rooms. Plans for the Doubletree by Hilton brand entail single hotel projects, while the Hilton Garden Inn brand will be launched as multiple property relationships modeled on similar projects in India, China, Russia and the United Kingdom.

2008 openings for Hilton include the spectacular Hilton Luxor Resort & Spa which opens in the winter. The 235-room resort set in 'the world's greatest open-air museum', Luxor, will feature the city's first world-class spa. In the U.A.E, HHC's first residential offering in Dubai, the 44-storey Hilton Jumeirah Beach Residence with 371 rooms and apartments, is set for a November 2008 opening. Meanwhile, with Qatar representing the second highest GDP growth after China, HHC will mark its entry into the country, with the 324-room Hilton Doha scheduled to open in January 2009.

The Hilton Family of Hotels in Middle East & Africa - Opening Pipeline:

U.A.E:

  • Hilton Dubai Jumeirah Beach Residence - UAE (371 rooms and apartments) - opening November 2008

  • Hilton Dubai Beach Club - UAE - opening Q1 2009

  • Hilton Ras Al Khaimah Resort & Spa - UAE (second phase of 160 rooms opening January 2009, with third and final phase of 165 rooms opening Q2 2009)

  • Conrad Abu Dhabi - UAE (500 rooms) - opening Q2 2010

  • Conrad Dubai - UAE (500 rooms) - opening Q3 2010

  • Hilton Mina Al Arab Resort  - Ras Al Khaimah, UAE (400 rooms) - opening December 2010

Qatar:

  • Hilton Doha - Qatar (324 rooms) - opening January 2009

Kuwait:

  • Hilton Olympia Kuwait (200 rooms) - opening Q2 2009

Egypt:

  • Hilton Luxor Resort & Spa (235 rooms) - re-opening October 2008

Lebanon:

  • Hilton Beirut (158 rooms) - opening date TBC 

Jordan:

  • Hilton Amman - Jordan Gate (590 rooms) - opening Q2 2009

  • Hilton Tala Bay Aqaba - Jordan (346 rooms) - opening Q2 2010

Africa:

  • Hilton Malabo - Equatorial Guinea (211 rooms) - opening Q1 2009

  • Hilton Accra Airport City - Ghana (186 rooms) - opening Q1 2010

  • Hilton Kampala - Uganda (272 rooms) - opening date TBC

  • Hilton Cape Verde - Sal Island, Cape Verde (268 rooms) - opening Q2 2010

Hilton Hotels Corporation is the leading global hospitality company, with more than 3,000 hotels and 500,000 rooms in more than 80 countries, including 100,000 team members worldwide. 

The company owns, manages or franchises a hotel portfolio of some of the best known and highly regarded brands, including Hilton®, Conrad Hotels & Resorts®, Doubletree®, Embassy Suites Hotels®, Hampton Inn®, Hampton Inn & Suites®, Hilton Garden Inn®, Hilton Grand Vacations(R), Homewood Suites by Hilton®, and The Waldorf=Astoria Collection®.

The company currently operates 44 hotels in the Middle East & Africa - 18 hotels in Egypt, nine hotels in the UAE, five in Saudi Arabia and one each in Oman and Kuwait, plus another ten hotels in Africa and the Indian Ocean.

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 nine 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, and to learn more about our be hospitable philosophy, please visit www.behospitable.com

The Hilton Reservations and Customer Care telephone numbers in the Middle East are as follows:

UAE                 - 8000 20000 11               Qatar                 - 800 97103
KSA                 - 800 82000 10                 Egypt                - 19009
Bahrain             - 8000 4058                    Jordan                - 00 202 5805927
Kuwait              - 00965 225 6200             Lebanon             - 00 202 5805928
Oman               - 800 788788                   Syria                  - 00 202 5805926

-Ends- 

For further information please contact:
Samantha Wood
Area Director of PR & Communications
Hilton Hotels, Middle East & Africa
Tel: +971 4 365 4886
Fax: +971 4 391 6791
Email: Samantha.Wood@hilton.com

Sana Khan
Senior Account Executive
Tel: +971 4 3613333
Fax: +971 4 3688001
Email: sana.khan@jiwin.ae

© Press Release 2008