With more than 5,700 properties around the world – and a new hotel
opening every day – Hilton continues to lead with newly announced
foundation and global hospitality initiative
Hilton, the world’s first global hotel company, will celebrate its
milestone 100th anniversary tomorrow in the midst of the most
dynamic year in the company’s storied history.
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Hilton is growing rapidly in China, where the company just opened its 200th hotel, with 400 under construction or in development. Pictured above is the Waldorf Astoria Chengdu, which opened in 2017. (Credit: Hilton)
To mark the occasion, hundreds of hotels around the world are extending
Hilton hospitality beyond their doors by taking “Random Acts of
Hospitality” to their communities – from Chicago to Shanghai, Dublin to
Dubai and everywhere in between.
As it looks ahead to its next century, Hilton also announced today the
creation of The
Hilton Effect Foundation, which will help create a better world to
travel by investing in both organizations and people having a positive
impact on the communities Hilton serves. The Foundation is launching
this week with
15 grants to organizations that will support communities around the
world. These inaugural grants will support programs around the globe
that are creating opportunities for youth, aiding in disaster recovery,
and supporting water stewardship and sustainability.
The Foundation builds on the impact already driven by Hilton through its
Travel with Purpose corporate responsibility strategy, which seeks to
double the company’s investment in social impact while cutting Hilton’s
environmental footprint in half by 2030. Since the inception of Travel
with Purpose in 2011, Hilton’s Team Members have performed more than 1.3
million hours of volunteer service and the company has invested tens of
millions of dollars in the communities it serves. As Hilton’s primary
international philanthropic arm, the Foundation will channel financial
and in-kind resources to further amplify the Hilton Effect – the ongoing
positive impact of the world’s first global hospitality company on
guests, Team Members and communities.
Celebrating Hilton’s 100th anniversary with hospitality and a
global Foundation speaks to the company’s founding vision.
“One hundred years ago, Conrad Hilton had a noble idea that travel can
make the world a better place,” said Chris Nassetta, President and CEO
of Hilton. “That deep-rooted sense of purpose has fueled our
transformative impact all across the globe, as we have welcomed 3
billion guests, employed 10 million Team Members and contributed $1
trillion in economic impact. And in the years to come, we will do even
more to positively change the world through our Hilton Effect
Foundation.”
Past and Present
Founded in 1919 in the tiny town of Cisco, Texas, Hilton has pioneered
the travel industry for decades, introducing room service,
air-conditioned lobbies, in-room televisions, airport hotels, the
mini-bar, the computerized reservation system, and Connected Room – the
first hotel room allowing guests to unlock their doors and control their
lights, thermostat and TV with a smartphone app. Hilton properties even
invented the brownie and the piña colada.
Hilton now offers 17 distinctive brands across 113 countries and
territories, with more than 5,700 properties and continues to grow with
a new hotel opening somewhere in the world every day.
In addition to the Foundation, the hospitality giant has also launched a
grassroots service initiative called “Random Acts of Hospitality.” Team
Members throughout Hilton locations around the world are conducting
meaningful, simple gestures for others that extend Hilton’s hospitality
beyond the doors of its hotels and into local communities.
Some of these gestures include:
-
Team Members from the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C. surprised
nonprofit organization DC Central Kitchen’s culinary students with new
knife sets and food scales.
-
In Houston, Team Members from Hilton Americas-Houston
treated volunteers from disaster relief organization Team Rubicon
during their work rebuilding homes in Houston damaged by Hurricane
Harvey. The Hilton team transformed the volunteers’ meal site into an
elegant, white linen dinner.
-
Hilton Shanghai Hongqiao and Hilton Sanya Yalong Bay Resort & Spa in
China delighted local taxi drivers, treating them to a car wash,
refreshments and delicious treats when they stopped by the hotels.
-
During Ramadan, Hilton Garden Inn Mall of the Emirates in Dubai
invited taxi drivers to stop by the hotel and receive complimentary
meal boxes to break their fast at Iftar time.
-
In Argentina, Hilton Buenos Aires delivered breakfast in their
community to brighten the morning for locals, including to the Navy
Police that are responsible for security in Puerto Madero.
Looking Ahead
With one of the industry’s fastest-growing pipelines, Hilton plans to
expand to nearly 20 additional countries by 2020. There are already more
than 2,400 hotels in Hilton’s construction pipeline, and approximately
one of every five hotel rooms under construction around the world is a
Hilton.
The company’s legacy of driving innovations that change the hospitality
industry continues in 2019 and beyond with the ongoing expansion of the
first mobile-centric Connected
Room.
Meanwhile, Hilton continues its commitment to Travel
with Purpose. Hilton is the first major hotel chain to institute
science-based targets for carbon reduction as part of its ambitious 2030
goals, which are aligned with the United Nations' Sustainable
Development Goals. Hilton was also the first hotel company to partner
with Clean the World to recycle soap, and has sent nearly 10 million
bars of soap to communities in need all over the globe as part of its
commitment to send zero soap to landfill. These efforts and more led to
Hilton being named to the 2018 Fortune “Change the World” list as well
as Forbes and JUST Capital’s list for “America's Most JUST Companies.”
From the beginning, the source of Hilton’s innovation, purpose and
growth has been its Team Members. Hilton has been recognized for its
exceptional workplace culture and is the first hospitality company in
history to achieve the #1 ranking on the Fortune
Best Companies to Work For® in the U.S. list. Additionally, in 2018,
Hilton was ranked as the #1 best
workplace for both diversity and parents and #2 on the World’s
Best Workplaces list, recognized by Great Place to Work®.
“Our first century of hospitality has been tremendously meaningful, but
I truly believe that now is our time,” Nassetta said. “Hilton is as
strong as it has ever been, and our potential to positively change the
world grows with each hotel we open and every guest we serve.
“Our 100th year of hospitality is an opportunity to reflect
on how far we’ve come and put a stake in the ground for our future.
Conrad Hilton charted an ambitious course for Hilton in 1919, and I
think he’d be proud of what we’ve accomplished so far. In my view, the
world’s a better place because Hilton was born one hundred years ago,
and if we do our job right, the world will be a better place because
Hilton’s in it for the next one hundred years.”
About Hilton
Hilton (NYSE: HLT) is a leading global hospitality company with a portfolio
of 17 world-class brands comprising more than 5,700 properties with more
than 923,000 rooms, in 113 countries and territories. Dedicated to
fulfilling its mission to be the world’s most hospitable company, Hilton
earned a spot on the 2018 world’s best workplaces list, and has welcomed
more than 3 billion guests in its 100-year history. Through the
award-winning guest loyalty program Hilton Honors, more than 89 million
members who book directly with Hilton can earn Points for hotel stays
and experiences money can’t buy, plus enjoy instant benefits, including
digital check-in with room selection, Digital Key, and Connected
Room. Visit newsroom.hilton.com for
more information, and connect with Hilton on Facebook,
Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.
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