Hilton Kuwait Resort: An anniversary and a launch

At a press conference held in the Al Dorra Ballroom, general manager Paul Hutton reviewed the resort's first year of operations.

"With the opening of the beautiful Al Dorra Ballroom, the resort is virtually complete", said Hutton. "There is one project still underway - the construction of a fire station - but we are now 100% operational. "

Already referred to by the chief engineer as his "township", the resort includes hotel rooms and suites, studio and 1-bedroom apartments, chalets, villas, and Royal Villas. There are six restaurants on the property, a fully equipped health and fitness centre, a spa, dedicated meeting and conference rooms of various sizes, a power plant, a desalination plant and, soon, a fire station. There is also a small market and a complete range of shops on the hotel's grand concourse, including a new Arabic gift and souvenir shop and a luxury Italian leather office accessory shop.

The entire project, including the fire station, will be completed on budget. Given the magnitude of the project and event-related construction delays, this demonstrates unsurpassed construction management.

Hutton noted that the ballroom - the last consumer-oriented product to come on line - had already begun generating revenue and did make a small contribution to the first year revenue totals. He reported that the resort had a 2002 - 2003 turnover in excess of $30 million, with approximately 60% room generated; 30% food and beverage generated and 10% from the health club, spa and concessions.

According to Hutton, the resort is generating revenue ahead of both the first and second year projections in all areas of the resort, including health and recreation. The original projections were based on operating at 45% of capacity and the resort is actually working at daily average of more than 75% of capacity.

"Needless to say, we're all delighted with the numbers, especially since they only marginally include the Al Dorra Ballroom. At 1,250 sq metres, this is the largest hotel ballroom in Kuwait and based on existing bookings, we anticipate that the portion of revenue generated by the food and beverage department next year will expand. We also expect to see growth in the health club and spa side of the business during the next year", explained Hutton.

One revenue stream, long-term rentals in the apartments, villas and chalets, has grossly exceeded all expectations. As more long-term guests move into the "township", the resort is faced with creating a balance between long-term rentals and keeping some of these desirable accommodation options available for guests looking to holiday in Kuwait.

"$30 million is a nice number and operating at 75% capacity across the board is impressive. But I don't think either number reflects the real scale of the operation. Over the last year, our first - remember, we:

• booked 53,780 room nights
• served 260,000 guests (that's more than twice as many people as were eligible to vote in Saturday's elections)
• hosted more than 300 VIPs
• prepared 140,000 breakfasts, using almost 300,000 eggs
• went through 6,000 litres of shampoo and 45,000 bars of soap
• made 80,670 beds and
• washed more than 100,000 towels."

Hutton concluded by expressing high hopes that both the national tourism campaign and special Hilton promotions will ensure the ongoing success of the hotel. "With the increased stability in the area and the concentrated efforts being made by the government of Kuwait to promote tourism, more people from the region will be tempted to include Kuwait on the list of weekend getaways. We also expect that Kuwaitis and residents of Kuwait will start vacationing here."

To support these efforts, Hutton said Hilton has introduced two special promotions. The regional promotion gives guests extra days, based on the number of nights they book. A guest staying five days, for example, would get two additional nights stay free. Here in Kuwait, the hotel is offering a special KD50 a night weekend rate for locals and residents.

"Kuwait has a lot to offer and I am optimistic that this time next year, I'll be reporting another outstanding year completed and solid, positive projections for 2004 - 2005."