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For the fourth consecutive year, Hilton Hotels & Resorts has topped the BDRC Continental Middle East Hotel Business Guest Survey. The flagship brand of Hilton Worldwide has been voted number one hotel brand in the Middle East and the ‘Leading Choice Hotel Brand’ amongst business travellers.
“Our fourth consecutive ranking as the top hotel brand in the Middle East reaffirms our standing as the global leader in hospitality. Throughout our fast paced growth in this region, we continue to innovate our product to provide relevant services and ensure that we deliver a refreshing experience for today’s global travelers,” said Dave Horton, global head, Hilton Hotels & Resorts brand.
The annual BDRC Continental Survey tracks the performance of 77 international hotel brands operating across the Middle East. Their Brand Ranking Index (BRI) is a composite measure based on the review of a hotel chain’s market positioning in the minds of business travellers from the Middle East. The survey tracks six brand metrics – prompted awareness, unprompted awareness, usage in the past year, leading choice, loyalty and advocacy for brands in the deluxe, premium, upper full service, mid-market full-service and budget sectors. Hilton topped four of the six measures, with a combined brand ranking index score of 55 on a theoretical maximum of 60.
“With visitor numbers returning to form, the Middle East is at the threshold of transforming into one of the world’s major tourist hubs with Hilton at the forefront of the region’s tourism industry. In addition to international visitors numbers rising, intra-regional tourism held strong this year – a trend that is beneficial for global brands like Hilton that have strong development pipelines across markets like Qatar, Kuwait and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” stated Esther Reynal de Saint Michel-Richardot, Project Manager and Senior Research Executive, BDRC Ltd.
Hilton maintained top ranking in the usage and preference categories with 27 per cent of those surveyed having stayed at a Hilton in the past year and 30 per cent preferring a Hilton-branded property over others, a nine-point lead above its nearest competitor.
Hilton was also the top-of-mind brand for 55 per cent of the respondents while prompted recall of the brand stood at 86 per cent with almost universal recognition in key markets like Egypt and Kuwait. Brand loyalty remains a Hilton stronghold, with three-quarters of those surveyed listing Hilton as the brand they are most likely to use.
“To be recognised by business travellers, for the fourth consecutive year, for our service quality and meetings products is a reflection of the hard work and dedication of our teams. Every day we strive to provide an excellent guest experience across all our hotels and to have this acknowledged by our guests once more is very rewarding.” said Jean-Paul Herzog, area president, Hilton Worldwide, Middle East and Africa.
The Survey’s focus on hotel-controlled channels and the internet as information sources for potential guests also identified the Hilton brand’s customer relations services as recording increased results amongst business travellers, surging 6 points from 2009. The brand’s website, www.hilton.com, also leads the pack in booking penetration rates among hotel and travel sites and the brand was also perceived favourably in terms of engagement with potential guests on social media websites.
The survey also registered an increase in participation in loyalty programmes by 15 per cent with Hilton HHonors showing positive growth in terms of membership and awareness.
With 29 hotels in the Middle East, Hilton Hotels & Resorts has 10,005 rooms or 8 per cent of the branded market share in the region, spread across strong business and leisure destinations like Kuwait, KSA, Egypt and UAE, and catering to diverse target markets including the business, conferences and meeting segments.
Also under the Hilton Worldwide portfolio, the Conrad brand made its mark in the BDRC Continental Survey with the Conrad Cairo strongly associated with exclusivity, strong meetings facilities and effectiveness.
The BDRC Continental Survey is a multi-client, syndicated study based on responses from business travellers who have stayed in hotels of at least a 3-star rating or equivalent for business reasons in their own country or abroad in the last 12 months. The 2010 edition surveyed 913 business travellers and tracked performances of 77 hotel brands across Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and UAE.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
