Hilton Hotel



Hilton Hotel

Introduction

Hilton Worldwide is a privately held, global hospitality company. The company owns, manages or franchises a portfolio of hotel brands. The company operates more than 3,750 hotels in 84 countries around the world . It has a timeshare operation that trades under the name of Hilton Grand Vacations. By the end of 2013, 100 Home2 Suites are expected to open across the United States, Canada and Mexico. In 2010, the company operated 512 hotels with 115,000 rooms in 32 countries. In 2009, the company added over 300 hotels to its portfolio, with a pipeline of more than 900 hotels under development in 57 countries. In 2008, the company controlled 95,500 hotel rooms operating under its various brands (Bolwell, 2008).

Recent hotel performance has been adversely affected by the global recession, particularly the harsh slowdown in the US economy and the rapid spike in unemployment. Travel for all purposes fell, resulting in a slump in room demand. This led to significantly increased discounts on room tariffs in a bid to maintain cash flows. At September 2006, Hilton Worldwide system consisted of 2,895 properties with 96,500 rooms. Its development pipeline included 775 hotels with 45,000 rooms, with about 90% of these in the Americas region (including the United States, Canada, Mexico and South America) (Boardman, 2008).

Discussion

Hilton Hotel Group Brands

Hilton Hotel Group formerly known as Hilton Hotels Corporation (HHC) holds a leading position in the global hospitality company. Hilton Hotel has numerous brands catering the needs of mid-priced, luxury, leisure and business segments (Blomme, 2009). The company's key services and brands are listed below.

Hilton Hotel and Resorts

Hilton Garden Inn

Hilton HHonors

Hampton

Doubletree

Hilton Grand Vacations

Embassy Suites

Waldorf Astoria

Home2 Suites

Homewood Suites

Conrad

Strategic Positioning Analysis of Hilton Hotel Group

The strategy adopted by Hilton Hotel Group embraces a focus of a stand-alone hotel business, brings major challenges which can be currency risks in markets where the company is highly exposed (Beddoe, 2004). Hilton Hotel Group has experienced difficulties in developing its brand, due to a difficult operating environment, thus, the destination remains a challenge for the company. Strategic positioning of Hilton Hotel Group has enabled to focus on building the brand image of business instead of focusing on profit maximization under the traditional approach of business development. This section discusses the strategic positioning elements of Hilton Hotel Group(Adler, 2004).

Swot Analysis

The Hilton Hotel Group offers a wide range of boarding and lodging services across luxury, upscale, mid-priced, extended-stay or vacation ownership. It has a strong brand awareness and brand recall in most of its key markets where it operates which gives it a distinct competitive advantage over its peers (Bolwell, 2008). However, intense competition could lead to pricing pressures, thereby decreasing the profitability of the company.

Strengths

Strong brand image ensures steady revenue growth

Debt restructuring improves liquidity position

Wide range of hotel services

Weakness

Exposure to the premium market increase the operating cost of the company

Opportunities

Strong growth in the hotel and motel industry in emerging markets

Strategic agreement with AT&T to enhance the company's online service offerings

Expansion in developing markets

Threats

Intense competition may lead to pricing pressures ...