Hilton to unveil $1 bln drive in UK, Turkey
According to the Financial Times on Sunday, Hilton Hotels Corporation will unveil two new developments this week. Hampton Inn, a budget inn business owned by Hilton, will open 30 more hotels in Britain and 25 new mid-market Hilton Garden Inns in Turkey. The total cost of the projects is estimated at $1 billion.
Hilton has agreed to a management deal with HLH, a property company specializing in the hotel sector, to open the UK sites. HLH will build and own the properties and Hilton will operate them. The new hotels, with a total of 4,000 rooms, are expected to open within five years.
A similar partnership will operate in Turkey; developer Kosifler Group will finance the new hotels and Hilton will run them. Turkey, Britan, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Russia, China and India are regarded as key expansion markets for Hilton. A report by TRI Hospitality Consulting says the hotel sector is forecast to grow by 60 percent by 2017.
The report also found that in the first three months of 2008 room revenues at budget hotels grew by 9.2 percent, compared with an 8.8 percent increase in the same period last year.
Ian Carter, president of global operations for Hilton Hotels Corporation, said he was confident that the new hotels would succeed despite an economic slowdown in Britain and around the world. In part, the target will be achieved by Hilton moving some of its brands, such as Hampton Inn and Doubletree, out of the US for the first time. Executives at Ascot are considering reviving their plans to build a hotel at the famous Berkshire racecourse.
source: Today’s Zaman
Tags: FDI Turkey