Hilton Hotels Corporation recently announced the appointment of Shuja Zaidi for the newly created post of Vice President - Projects, Saudi Arabia, to support the company's development ambitions in the Kingdom. The appointment of Shuja emphasizes Hilton's diligent focus on realizing Saudi Arabia's tourism potential within the GCC, and internationally. Leveraging its strong presence in Jeddah, Makkah, and Madina, Hilton will now channel its development efforts in Riyadh, where they perceive significant prospects for establishing the Hilton Family of Brands. “We are confident in his new role, Shuja will prove to be the driving force for the Hilton brands, and to realize our aggressive development objectives in the Kingdom.” Essam Abouda, vice president - Operations, Arabian Peninsula and Indian Ocean said. Saudi Arabia has been identified as one of Hilton's top international markets with a high potential for development, with domestic tourism alone expected to generate around SR101 billion by 2020. Recognizing the considerable growth opportunity in the region, Zaidi has already begun initiating steps to ensuring a productive year for Hilton by adopting a fresh voice for the company's expansion plans. Zaidi said: “There is no doubt Saudi Arabia has the potential to redefine Hilton's future growth in the region. Hilton's aim is to ensure the expansion plans are in sync with the hospitality ambitions of the Kingdom, and part of my role will be to ensure the proliferation of the Hilton Family of Brands is achieved with strategic precision. I will leverage my years of experience in the Kingdom that has helped me develop a tremendous understanding of the region, its unique sensitivities and requirements. “We strongly believe as domestic tourism evolves rapidly, so will the diversity of travelers to the Kingdom, alongside a consumer mandate for wider options. We aim to meet this anticipated need with the roll out of more Hilton Family of Brands.” Earlier in July this year, Hilton reopened its international sales office in Riyadh, acknowledging Saudi Arabia's status as a fast growing feeder market for the hospitality giant's Middle East and Africa regions, as well as international operations. In addition, Hilton Hotels Corporation announced short- and long-term goals and objectives toward building sustainability into the core fabric of its businesses worldwide. Christopher J. Nassetta, president & CEO, outlined directional targets for improvement in the company's sustainability performance throughout the next five years within systemwide hotels globally. By 2014, goals for the Hilton Family of Hotels are to: • Reduce energy consumption from direct operations by 20 percent • Reduce CO2 emissions by 20 percent • Reduce output of waste by 20 percent • Reduce water consumption by 10 percent “Upon becoming a truly global company with the acquisition of Hilton International and following the acquisition of our company by Blackstone late last year, we are in an ideal position to lay down a framework for sustainability within our global hotels and corporate offices,” he said. __
