Hilton Hotels named number one hotel brand in the Middle East

The BDRC survey, which tracks the performance of 80 international hotel brands across the Middle East, also named Hilton the 'Leading Choice Hotel Brand' for the business traveller segment.

"Naturally we are delighted to be recognised as the leading hospitality brand in this region. The results are testament to our impeccable service and strong brand standards across all 31 Hilton hotels in the Middle East. We are also honoured that business travellers, a key market segment for us, have commended us,"

said Jean-Paul Herzog, President, Hilton Hotels, Middle East & Africa.

The BDRC Brand Ranking Index (BRI) is a composite measure that compiles overall scores for six brand metrics - prompted awareness, unprompted awareness, usage in the past year, leading choice, advocacy and loyalty ratio. Hilton was the top performing brand in five of the six measured brand metrics and achieved a combined score of 59 on a theoretical maximum BRI of 60.

"Although the Middle East hotel industry's development has slowed down in the last year, it remains one of the most dynamic markets globally in which Hilton manages to hold its leading position," said Esther Reynal de Saint Michel-Richardot, Project Manager and Senior Research Executive, BDRC Ltd.

Hilton achieved high scores in the usage and preference categories, with 28 per cent of those surveyed having stayed at a Hilton for business over the past year, and 33 per cent preferring Hilton over other brands for business purposes.

The survey also identified Hilton as the most recognised hotel brand amongst Middle East business travellers, with 57% of the respondents naming Hilton as one of their top-of-mind brands. Additionally, prompted recognition of Hilton reaches 86% of business travellers, whilst advertising and editorial recall rates in 2009 stand at a high of 67%.

Over three-quarters of surveyed Hilton guests are brand loyal as 78 per cent rated the brand as their first/ second choice or one they are pleased to use, a six point lead over its nearest competitor. Hilton also topped the advocacy category, with 79% of surveyed Hilton business guests being advocates of the brand in the Middle East, with intent to recommend.

With the largest number of rooms in the Middle East, the Hilton brand accounted for 9.3% of the total branded room stock. With booking via hotel websites generally increasing, Hilton's websites registered the highest booking penetration rates amongst Middle East business travellers.

In tandem with the mid-market sector's growth of 37.5% in 2009, Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton's mid-market brand registered increased awareness amongst surveyed business travellers (to 12%) and frequent stayers (to 19 per cent). Other Hilton Family brands including Waldorf Astoria, Conrad and Doubletree by Hilton also showed increased awareness among respondents.

The BDRC 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 2009 edition surveyed 903 business travellers and tracked the performances of 80 hotel brands across Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The BDRC accolade follows on from the 2009 Maktoob Research Travel Monitor which voted Hilton the most recognised hotel brand in both the UAE and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

BDRC Survey Highlights:

- Hilton leads the BDRC's Brand Ranking Index as No 1 Hotel Brand in the Middle East
- Hilton topped the survey in unprompted awareness, usage, preference, advocacy and loyalty
- The Hilton brand has the largest number of branded hotel rooms in the Middle East
- Hilton's websites have the highest booking penetration rates amongst Middle East business travellers
- Hilton registered the highest recall of hotel brand advertising/ editorial in 2009