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Hilton Group plc Chief Executive Officer, Mr David Michels
recently announced that global hotel profits for the group had increased 17 percent to £171.3 million,
marking a continuation of the recovery in hotel trading. The 2004 result was underwritten by a 7.0 percent increase in revpar (revenue per available room), primarily
driven by a rise in occupancy rates.
David
Michels, commented on the results saying “2004 was the first uninterrupted year of hotel recovery for some time. Revpar rose steadily and more Hilton properties were added during the
course of the year.”
Speaking from the Hilton Middle East & Asia Pacific (MEAP) corporate office in Singapore, Area President, Mr Koos Klein said, “The 2004 results for Hilton in the Middle
East and Asia Pacific is a solid indication of a bounce back following a year that was wracked by the Iraq war and
SARS.
“The Middle East and Egypt enjoyed very good performances with revpar growing by 13.7% and 32.2% respectively. Meanwhile, China rebounded strongly from 2003
with revpar up 48.1%.”
He added that three quarters of Hilton International’s global expansion in 2004 came from the Asia Pacific
region where 13 additional Hilton hotels were opened or rebadged. These included eight new hotels in India under a franchise agreement, the new Conrad Bali, Hilton Odawara Resort & Spa (Japan), Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa,
Hilton Shenzhen (China), and Hilton Kuala Lumpur.
Klein
added, “2004 set a new pace for expansion and at the same time, introduced the first of our new-generation, new-look hotels, the Hilton Kuala Lumpur in September
last year.
“Hilton in Asia Pacific is undergoing a revitalization program that is adding a real buzz to the brand. We have plans to increase the portfolio by another 25 percent by end
of 2006 to give us 51 properties throughout the region. The majority of the hotels are new builds that will continue to breathe a new edginess and youthfulness into our
portfolio.”
New additions to the portfolio will include the luxurious Conrad Tokyo opening in July this year (home to Asia’s first Gordon Ramsay restaurant), Hilton Sydney which
opens mid year following a two year and AUD$200 million dollar rooftop to basement rebuild, the Millennium Hilton Bangkok which opens at the end of the year, and a
number of Hilton Worldwide Resorts in prime leisure destinations such as Sanya, Cebu, Phuket and Fiji.
The hotel group will also revamp existing hotels. In Australia alone, almost US$30 million is being poured into Hiltons in Cairns, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth over a three
year period. Meanwhile, Hilton Beijing is half way through its US$15 million overhaul, Hilton Shanghai will begin a masterplan refurbishment later this year and the US$20
million injection in the Hilton Maldives will see the second island, complete with 80 new over water villas, a 20 villa destination spa and the world’s first undersea
restaurant, open mid this year.
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