There’s plenty of interest in Conrad Hotels as a luxury-end brand, says Stephen Bollenbach, CEO of Hilton Hotel Corporation. Hilton’s top-tier brand Conrad – located in Hall 9/Stand 317 – currently operates 17 luxury hotels and resorts, but could have as many as 50 in the brand portfolio by 2010.

Conrad would like ten more hotels in Asia over the next five years, but it is also looking for projects in the USA, Europe and the Middle East. Conrad has been run as a joint-venture between Hilton Group and Hilton Hotels Corporation since 2000, and this formula has given the brand a new impetus to speed up it expansion and boost its global profile. Certainly, there is plenty of scope for growth in Europe – Conrad’s European coverage to date is in London, overlooking Chelsea harbour, in Brussels, in Istanbul and in Ireland, where the brand has complementary city and resort properties in Dublin and Kilkenny.