Hilton Hotels Kentucky

The Hilton Family of Hotels consists of 9 brands, almost 3,000 hotels and 500,000 rooms in more than 70 countries, all with one philosophy: be hospitable. Hilton Family Hotels and Hilton Family Resorts are among the most well-known and well-respected brands in the industry. From four-star city center hotels to convention centers and luxury leisure resorts, the Hilton Family of brands includes a portfolio of upscale, mid-priced, extended stay, and vacation ownership hotels.

The acquisition in 1999 of Promus Hotel Corporation expanded the family of brands to include the Hampton Inn®, Doubletree®, Embassy Suites Hotels®, and Homewood Suites by Hilton®. Hilton is now able to offer guests the widest possible variety of hotel experiences, including four-star city center hotels, convention properties, all-suite hotels, extended stay, mid-priced focused service, destination resorts, vacation ownership, airport hotels and conference centers.

Hilton is a major industry competitor in owning hotels, managing/franchising hotels, vacation ownership, and the international industry. Hilton owns hotels such as New York's Waldorf=Astoria, The Hilton Hawaiian Village® on Waikiki Beach, Chicago's Palmer House Hilton and the Hilton San Francisco on Union Square. These large-scale properties occupy the best locations in the nation's best markets. The company is a prominent franchiser of hotels across its entire brand family, with income from management or franchise fees accounting for some 30 percent of Hilton's total cash flow. Hilton Grand Vacations Club, the company's vacation ownership business, operates properties across the country including such desirable locales as Las Vegas, Orlando, New York, Miami and Honolulu. With the 2006 acquisition of Hilton International, Hilton Hotels Corporation became a global force.

The vision of Hilton is to be the first choice of the world's travelers, building on the rich heritage and strength of its brands by consistently delighting customers, investing in its team members, delivering innovative products and services, expanding its family of brands, and continuously improving performance. It also aims to increase shareholder value, create a culture of pride, and strengthen the loyalty of its constituents.

In the last 10 years the company has moved from a few hotel-casinos and big hotels in the US to a worldwide enterprise encompassing approximately 80 countries, from 275 hotels to more than 2,900 around the world, from a single brand to a collection of nine serving a broad range of travelers. In 1995, Hilton’s market capitalization was $3.5 billion; at year-end 2006, it was $13.5 billion.

A total of 223 hotels with approximately 36,000 rooms were added to the Hilton system in 2006. At year-end 2006, the company’s worldwide system consisted of 2,935 properties and 501,478 rooms. In 2006 and early 2007, new Hilton hotels opened in Kauai (Hawaii), Boston, St. Louis and at Baltimore/Washington Airport, with new Doubletree hotels in North America in Birmingham (Alabama), Anaheim, Dallas, Quebec and at New York’s JFK Airport. Since 2000, Hilton has added 1,000 hotels to their system, and the company expects to add another 900 (with 120,000 rooms) in the three years beginning 2007. In 2006, Hilton Garden Inn notched its fifth consecutive #1 ranking from J.D. Power. In addition, the Hilton Family of Brands collectively received the highest score in the University of Michigan’s American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Hilton has been first, or tied for first, in five of the past seven years in the ACSI rankings. The company anticipates having approximately 50 luxury hotels in its system by 2010.

The total return of Hilton was 46 percent during 2006, far outperforming the S&P Hotels, Resorts and Cruise Lines Index (15 percent) and the S&P 500 (16 percent). Net income for 2006 was $572 million, compared to $460 million in 2005. Diluted net income per share was $1.39 versus $1.13 in 2005. Total operating income was $1.274 billion in 2006 (compared with $805 million in 2005) on revenue of $8.162 billion (compared with $4.437 billion in 2005). Revenue from Hilton owned hotels (majority owned and controlled properties) was $2.521 billion, compared with $2.049 billion in 2005. The company’s timeshare business, Hilton Grand Vacations Company (HGVC), had a record year with 2006 revenue of $650 million, compared with $554 million in 2005.

Hilton is dedicated to preserving the environment, evident by the fact that Hilton was the first company in the industry to receive the EnergyStar® award from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy. Hilton developed a comprehensive company-wide policy to promote business practices that help preserve the environment. Nearly every hotel within the Family of Hotels takes part in the "Green Program --Conserve to Preserve." By asking guests when they would like their sheets and towels changed, Hilton saves over 12 million gallons of fresh water a month while also reducing waste water and the use of chemicals and energy resources. In addition, by investing in state-of-the-art equipment Hilton has reduced the amount of water used to clean every pound of linens from approximately two gallons of water downward to one gallon. Hilton has implemented a corporate-wide energy efficient lighting retrofit program for its guestrooms. By using state-of-the-art compact fluorescent and other lighting technology, Hilton significantly reduces its use of the natural resources that are utilized to power these products. Hilton is also actively evaluating and implementing additional "green" technologies in its facilities including solar technology, co-generation, and fuel cells use, which will further decrease dependence on current energy providers and resources. In the early 1990's, Hilton instituted recycling program guidelines, which provided training and specific instructions on how to start and manage a successful recycling program.

Hilton team members also play a role by participating in various communities outreach projects, such as planting trees, cleaning beaches and undertaking other activities that help restore our natural resources. They help kids learn to read, participate in fundraising walk-a-thons that help numerous worthy causes, and refurbishing national landmarks. Hilton believes in active participation in cities, counties and states where the company operates.

Atkinson Expeditions

970-568-9667
PO Box 1102
Wellington, CO
http://www.atkinsonexpeditions.com