Hilton: the hotel empire
Hilton International Hotel Group is the branch of Hilton Group Company, whose headquarters lies in England. It has the right to use the trademark ‘Hilton’ in all countries in the world except for America. There are 261 Hilton hotels, 142 Scandic Hotels that aim at the middle class market. and 18 Conrad Hotels in 12 countries. Hilton now has over 71,000 employees in 80 countries.
The founder of Hilton hotels, Conrad N.Hilton, regards hotels as an industry of services and entertainment. To satisfy customers’ needs, Hilton Empire is full of smiles. Besides, in organization, Hilton tries to create an as complete as possible service system to provide all sorts of service. So, now, Hilton not only provides board and lodging, but also services like coffee room, conference room, banqueting hall, swimming pool, shopping malls, banks, mail services, flower shops, clothing stores, and airline agencies. Hilton hotels have single rooms, double rooms, suites, and presidential suites specially prepared for heads of states. All furniture that should be in a house can be seen here, which makes people feel at home.
Hilton’s expansion in China
In 1988, Shanghai(上海) Hilton came into operations, which marks the entry of Hilton into China market. In the 1990s, due to the fact that the development strategy was focused on European and North America market, the development of Hilton in China lagged much behind other international hotel groups. In the 21st century, Hilton put more attention to its expansion in China. There are now about 30 hotels that belong to the Hilton International Hotel Group in China’s major cities like Beijing(北京), Chongqing(重庆), Sanya(三亚), Hefei(合肥), Qingdao(青岛), Wuxi(无锡), and Xi’an(西安).
However, since year 2011, Hilton has made major adjustments in its strategy in China—to enter the market with smartluxyry. According to Paul Brown, Hilton’s Global Brand and commercial services president, China will become Hilton’s second largest market, following America. By 2015, Hilton plans to have 100 new hotels in china, including Hilton’s luxury hotel brands like Waldorf and Conrad. In Waldorf’s expansion plan, both the first and the second tier cities are included. In May 2012, Hilton announced that Waldorf is going to Chengdu(成都). This is the second Waldorf in China, and the first in western China. In the future 5 years two more Waldorf will be opened in Baoting(保亭) and Sanya(三亚) in Hainan. This speed of development is rarely seen in Waldorf’s history.
Hilton in China: will development sustain?
Hilton is using full grea to catch up with its competitors in the number of hotels. But, there are examples that international big hotel brands lowered their standards to fit China, and intentionally ignored the problems in administration, which caused larger problems in the future. Hilton needs to make sure that it will have enough customers to bring income. If the operation goes not well in the long run, Hilton’s reputation will be harmed.
Edited by Amy Wang
Credit Photo: MSN
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Frank Vismeg
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