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will now spearhead the
global expansion. Ian Carter, CEO of Hilton International,
said: “It’s very important for us to reach critical mass in
countries where we are underrepresented like France,
Germany, eastern Europe, China, India and Australia.”
Britain will also be part of
the growth. Carter expects to expand the number of the
group’s UK hotels from 70 to 140 within five to seven years.
He is touring the world to decide which brands to roll out
in which countries.
While Doubletree is an
upmarket brand, Hilton Garden Inns is comparable to the
mainstream Holiday Inns, and Hampton Inns is closer to the
lower-priced Holiday Inns Express. Although they will carry
the Hilton name, they will be more basic than the flagship
chain, and have more massmarket appeal.
The 1,200 new properties will
be mainly owned by outside investors and run under
management contracts by Hilton. But gradually more will be
franchised to third parties to own and run, until the
additional hotels reflect the present mix of 65 franchised,
30 under contract and 5 directly owned by Hilton.
Carter refused to put a figure
on the cost of his ambitious plans. He said: “We have
committed significant human resources to this expansion,
which is the most important element if you are looking to
expand by franchise and management contract.” Carter expects
to sell the Metropole hotels in Birmingham and London in
September for more than £400 million.
He was speaking at the
official opening of the 283-room Canary Wharf Hilton in east
London, which is being run under contract.
Carter said: “We actually did better than expected in the
fourth quarter, and we started this year in great shape,
with the bulk of our big London hotels full in July and
August.”
But higher costs meant that
sales were not enough “to get us back to the Ebitda
(earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and
amortisation) we made pre-9/11”. Sunday Times, London |
