Business Wire

VA-HILTON

15.12.2020 18:02:13 CET | Business Wire | Press release

Share
In a Year Like No Other, Hilton Grows to Milestone 1 Million Rooms and Responds to Pandemic with Innovations for Guests, Positive Impact for Communities

In a year when the travel industry faced challenges like never before, Hilton (NYSE: HLT) weathered the storm by staying true to its founding purpose – to fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality. As the COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented challenges for the travel and tourism industry, Hilton developed industry-leading guest innovations, reached significant growth milestones and continued to positively impact communities around the world.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201215005839/en/

Even as the company faced the biggest test in its 101-year history, Hilton’s resilient, capital-light business model enabled it to organically reach its 1 million room milestone in the fourth quarter.

Three of the hotels that helped the company cross this important threshold paint a picture of Hilton’s global growth story: Hilton Garden Inn Umhlanga Arch in South Africa, illustrating the company’s expansion into Africa; Tru by Hilton Savannah Airport , showcasing the power of the fastest-growing new brand in Hilton’s portfolio; and the Hilton Garden Inn Guizhou Maotai Town in China, helping deliver on the company’s ambitious growth goals in the APAC market.

Meanwhile, Hilton’s overall development pipeline remains strong, with 2,640 hotels and more than 408,000 rooms globally*.

“It’s been a year unlike any other, but even in the face of incredible challenges, our Team Members and owners have proven that travel is an unstoppable force for good,” said Chris Nassetta, president & CEO, Hilton. “Thanks to their grit and determination, Hilton has made a difference in the lives of so many and positively impacted communities at a time when our hospitality is needed more than ever – and together we look forward to creating even more meaningful memories in the year ahead.”

Throughout 2020, Hilton, in partnership with its hotel ownership community, has found innovative and meaningful ways to adapt to the changing needs of its guests, Team Members and communities:

Guest Experience

The pandemic rapidly changed guest behavior, priorities and concerns. Hilton responded with start-up style speed, grounded in more than a century of hospitality know-how to provide reassurance to travelers.

Among the innovations:

  • Launched Hilton CleanStay TM , an industry-defining standard of cleanliness and disinfection in collaboration with RB, maker of Lysol and Dettol and in consultation with Mayo Clinic
  • Redesigned meeting and event experiences and set new standards for event cleanliness and customer service with the launch of Hilton EventReady with CleanStay TM
  • Modified cancellation policies and took a number of steps to provide even more flexibility for Hilton Honors members including status and Points extensions
  • Created opportunities for Hilton Honors members to respond to the global pandemic by donating their Points to convert into cash and send directly to organizations including World Central Kitchen , Clean the World , Project Hope or Direct Relief
  • Provided alternative remote working options through the launch of WorkSpaces by Hilton in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom
  • Continued to provide contactless guest experience options through the free Hilton Honors app , enabling guests to personalize their experience with the ability to choose their rooms, check-in and out digitally and use their phones as digital keys. Guests have now used Hilton’s Digital Key to open more than 100 million doors worldwide
  • Inspired travelers to make new memories with the global launch of our insights-driven marketing campaign, “To New Memories ”
  • Revealed, for the first time ever, DoubleTree by Hilton’s official chocolate chip cookie recipe so guests could create an at-home version of this iconic travel treat

Response to Communities

Hilton continued to find inventive ways to address some of the most critical, immediate needs of the communities where it operates.

  • Partnered with American Express to donate up to 1 million hotel room nights across the U.S. for frontline medical professionals leading the fight against COVID-19
  • Expanded partnership with American Express through a $1 million contribution from American Express to World Central Kitchen , to provide healthy, freshly prepared meals to the frontline healthcare professionals who stayed at Hilton properties in cities across the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic
  • Revealed 2020 Hilton Effect Foundation Grants and reached more than $1 million in global COVID-19 community response efforts
  • Extended Hilton’s hospitality to help the travel industry come together to overcome the global pandemic including sharing countless stories of teams around the world supporting each other and helping their communities
  • Supported Hilton Team Members searching for virtual and remote volunteer opportunities, including during its annual Hilton Effect Week volunteer event and through innovative partnerships with groups including Clean the World, Meals on Wheels and more
  • Remained committed to the company’s Travel with Purpose 2030 Goals to cut the company’s environmental footprint in half and double its social impact investments worldwide. These efforts led to Hilton being named the global industry leader in sustainability for the second consecutive year on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices

Continued Global Growth and Expansion

Hilton kept dreams of traveling alive by opening exciting new properties around the world. All the while, the company advocated on behalf of owners, many of whom are small businesses, who struggled with the travel decline.

Response to Team Members

2020 saw Hilton go from being named the #1 Best Company to Work for in the U.S. to, weeks later, having to furlough thousands of Team Members due to the impact of COVID-19 on travel and tourism. At every turn, the company leaned into its values to navigate these tough decisions.

  • Activated Hilton’s Team Member Assistance Fund to support Hilton Team Members who have been directly impacted by COVID-19 or have a family member impacted by the virus
  • Reversed its recruitment engine to connect Team Members impacted by furloughs and layoffs with access to more than a million job opportunities through the Hilton Workforce Resource Center
  • Launched a new Hilton Alumni Network portal with access to relevant career opportunities, resources, news and information
  • Committed to an expedited recruitment process for Team Members who reapply for future roles when conditions allow
  • Extended Team Member Hilton Honors status and access to Go Hilton, Hilton’s industry-leading Team Member travel program, for departing Team Members, and offered improved Honors status to current Team Members
  • Continued to earn recognition as a top workplace, even as the pandemic continued, including being named to the top spot on the 2020 list of Best Workplaces in Greater China
  • Recognized the heroic actions of frontline Team Members with the creation of a new Hospitality Heroes Award
  • Listened to Team Members and relaunched the network of eight Team Member Resource Groups committed to building communities across the organization, and introduced a Courageous Conversation series to foster meaningful dialogue to bring about lasting change in the midst of an evolving social justice landscape

To learn more about Hilton, please visit: newsroom.hilton.com .

* Unless otherwise indicated, all hotel data reflects Hilton’s third quarter 2020 announcement (November 4). More information can be found on Hilton’s Investor Relations website.

About Hilton

Hilton (NYSE: HLT) is a leading global hospitality company with a portfolio of 18 world-class brands comprising more than 6,300 properties and more than one million rooms, in 118 countries and territories. Dedicated to fulfilling its mission to be the world’s most hospitable company, Hilton has welcomed more than 3 billion guests in its more than 100-year history, earned a top spot on the 2020 World’s Best Workplaces list, and was named the 2020 Global Industry Leader on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices. In 2020, Hilton CleanStay was introduced, bringing an industry-defining standard of cleanliness and disinfection to hotels worldwide. Through the award-winning guest loyalty program Hilton Honors, the more than 110 million members who book directly with Hilton can earn Points for hotel stays and experiences money can’t buy, plus enjoy instant benefits, including contactless 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 .

Link:

ClickThru

About Business Wire

Business Wire
Business Wire
101 California Street, 20th Floor
CA 94111 San Francisco

http://businesswire.com

Subscribe to releases from Business Wire

Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Latest releases from Business Wire

emnify Appoints Sacha Herrmann as Chief Financial Officer and Christian Friis as Chief Revenue Officer2.10.2026 17:12:00 CEST | Press release

Appointments expand emnify executive team to accelerate global growth emnify, a global leader in IoT connectivity, today announced the appointments of Sacha Herrmann as Chief Financial Officer and Christian Friis as Chief Revenue Officer, effective immediately. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261001902751/en/ emnify Appoints Sacha Herrmann as Chief Financial Officer and Christian Friis as Chief Revenue Officer The appointments follow the recent naming of Kenneth De Spiegeleire as Chief Executive Officer and Frank Stoecker as Executive Chairman of the Board. Together, these leadership changes strengthen emnify financial, operational, and commercial capabilities as the company enters its next phase of international growth. “We have proven momentum. Our ambition is to now turn it into global category leadership,” said Kenneth De Spiegeleire, CEO of emnify. “That requires sharper focus, disciplined execution, and

Tacton Appoints Former IFS Executive Merlin Knott as Chief Commercial Officer to Accelerate Global Growth and Scale Beyond CPQ2.10.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release

Enterprise software veteran to lead Tacton’s united commercial organization and partner expansion worldwide. Tacton, a global leader in Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) software and configuration solutions for manufacturers of complex products, today announced the appointment of Merlin Knott as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). In this role, Knott will lead Tacton’s global commercial organization, including marketing, sales, and pre-sales, aligning the teams responsible for bringing Tacton’s solutions to market, and driving value to its customers and partners globally. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261002794882/en/ Merlin Knott, Chief Commercial Officer, Tacton Knott joins Tacton with decades of experience building and scaling commercial organizations across the enterprise software industry. Most recently, he held senior leadership roles at IFS, the world’s leading provider of Industrial AI software, where he led

EDW Presents 2026 Data Quality Award to Repeat Winner Domivest2.10.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release

European DataWarehouse (EDW) presented its fifth annual Data Quality Award at the 2026 TSI Congress in Berlin. This year, EDW's Best Data Quality – Deal of the Year (2026) award was presented to Domivest B.V. for its transaction Domi 2023-1 B.V., recognising the firm's outstanding commitment to accurate, complete, and consistent reporting. The award is based on EDW's proprietary data quality scoring methodology, which evaluates transactions against thousands of validation rules and checks. Data quality excellence is not a one-off achievement. The fact that the same issuers continue to rank among the top performers year after year demonstrates that superior data quality is the result of sustained commitment, robust processes, and ongoing investment. "Receiving the Data Quality Award for a second time means a great deal to us. Transparent, accurate loan-level data is key to investor trust in our transactions, and we are grateful to European DataWarehouse for recognising the work our trea

ILiAD Biotechnologies Expands BPZE1 Public Health and Commercial Potential with Publication of Pediatric Phase 2b Study in The Lancet Infectious Diseases2.10.2026 14:00:00 CEST | Press release

Intranasal pertussis vaccine candidate BPZE1 demonstrates robust nasal mucosal and systemic immune responses with a favorable safety profile in children ages 6 through 17 yearsFirst pediatric clinical trial builds on 5 prior adult BPZE1 clinical studiesDemonstrates safety and immunogenicity of BPZE1 in acellular pertussis vaccine primed individualsNo interference observed when BPZE1 co-administered with diphtheria and tetanus antigens ILiAD Biotechnologies, Inc. (ILiAD), an advanced clinical stage biotech company focused on the prevention and treatment of disease caused by Bordetella pertussis, today announced the publication of results from its Phase 2b SUPER (Stand Up to Pertussis) clinical trial in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. This randomized, double blind, placebo- and active-comparator-controlled trial demonstrated that BPZE1, a live attenuated intranasal pertussis vaccine, induced robust nasal mucosal immune responses in healthy children aged 6 through 17 years (LINK). The stu

NIQ Brings New AI and Automation Capabilities to Retail Space Planning and Merchandising2.10.2026 12:45:00 CEST | Press release

New AI and automation capabilities help retailers close execution gaps and scale merchandising decisions across every store. NielsenIQ (NYSE: NIQ), a leading consumer intelligence company, today announced new AI and automation capabilities for NIQ Spaceman®, its retail space planning and merchandising platform trusted by more than 600 retailers across 65+ countries. The enhancements help retailers create store-specific planograms up to 50 times faster, identify execution and compliance gaps, and scale merchandising decisions across their store networks through expanded cloud-based access. "Retailers are under increasing pressure to localize assortments, execute consistently across stores, and respond more quickly to changing shopper behavior," said Natalie Williams, SVP, Product at NIQ. "These enhancements help simplify that process by embedding agentic AI directly into merchandising workflows and automating traditionally manual planning tasks. That means teams can spend less time buil

In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.

Visit our pressroom
World GlobeA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.HiddenA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.Eye