Hilton to increase head office staff 30%

Hilton Hotels Corporation, the global hospitality chain, is on track to open 12 properties in the GCC with 3,379 hotel rooms by 2012, the senior-most official of Hilton's regional operations told Emirates Business in an exclusive interview.

"For the regional office, we are creating new roles to cover the pipeline of hotels," Jean-Paul Herzog, President, Middle East and Africa, Hilton, told this paper at the chain's regional headquarters in Dubai.

"We also have new brands now that we need to support and ensure that they are operating at maximum efficiency. There will be a 30 per cent increase in our headquarters headcount by the end of 2009 over 2008," he revealed.

Overall, Hilton has plans to unveil 22 properties with 5,858 rooms by 2012 across the Middle East and Africa, including 1,035 rooms in the Levant and 1,444 rooms in Africa, he said.

Despite Dubai hotels witnessing a 30 per cent decline in revenue per available room (RevPAR), according to recent reports, Hilton is faring "considerably well", Herzog said.

"RevPAR for Dubai's hotels is about a third down on previous year. We are lucky that our drop is considerably less than that, which has to do with the location of our hotels and how we are running them," he said, adding that Hilton had adjusted its pricing as one of the means to counter the slowdown.

"We have of course taken a number of measures. We have adjusted our pricing, which is down 10 per cent on an average in the UAE. Of course, it is different for different hotels in our portfolio. In fact, prices in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain have gone up [over 2008], but that has to do with the mixture of the business we have," he said.

"The GCC is holding well in terms of pure occupancy levels, not least because of the various events such as Idex [International Defence Exhibition and Conference] and Gastech in Abu Dhabi," he said. "Also, tourists from new markets and segments are now able to come to the UAE, which is helping matters in the GCC."

Occupancy levels for Hilton, he said, were down marginally.

"There is a less than seven per cent drop in occupancy levels compared with 2008," he confirmed.

"Our hotels in the UAE are running at high occupancy levels, with Ras Al Khaimah running at 70 per cent occupancy and out Jumeirah property at 90 per cent occupancy levels, because we have been able to [tweak] prices and are part of the global Hilton promotions," he said.


Hilton appoints new sales director

The first in a number of senior appointments boosting the company's Middle East and Africa team, Hilton Hotels Corporation yesterday said it has appointed Victor Louis as Regional Director of Sales for Arabian Peninsula and Indian Ocean.

Louis, who was earlier the General Manager at the Hilton Fujairah Resort, where he oversaw the Dh15 million refurbishment, will now head the regional and hotels' sales teams for 18 properties spread across the UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Mauritius and Seychelles, as well as new openings in the Gulf, Hilton said in a statement.

It added that he will have sales responsibility for all Hilton Family brands in the region, the Waldorf Astoria and Hilton Garden Inn hotels, as well as the Conrad and Doubletree by Hilton properties under development. He will also look after any further brand introductions.

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