Hilton Hotels in the Middle East Sign an Agreement with HMC to Relaunch the Premium Club

NEWPORT BEACH – June 24, 2009 – Hospitality Marketing Concepts (HMC), the leading solution provider of loyalty membership programmes, has been selected by Hilton Hotels Corporation to relaunch a new Premium Club throughout the Middle East.

The new Premium Club programme will feature comprehensive membership benefits and will be available at Hilton Hotels throughout the Arabian Peninsula and in Egypt. Hilton offers a range of business, meeting and resort hotels with several signature restaurants and recreational facilities.

“As announced during Arabian Travel Market, one of our strategies during the downturn is to count on partner support. HMC was selected to be one of our key partners and through the new Premium Club we will ensure that Hilton maximises our share of the market,” revealed Essam Abouda, Vice President, Hilton Hotels, Arabian Peninsula & Indian Ocean.

Premium Club members receive special benefits including 20% off the best available room rate, 20% off all food and beverage and the “Experience Hilton” booklet, which includes cash certificates for complimentary dining at Hilton Hotels throughout the region.

“We are delighted that Hilton Hotels has selected HMC to develop and manage the Premium Club which will be strategic in driving new revenue to Hilton Hotels,” said Marwan Ramadan, Group Senior Vice President and President EMEA of Hospitality Marketing Concepts. “HMC will use our experience and state-of-the-art systems to give Hilton Hotels a dynamic and successful loyalty programme that is proven to generate results even during difficult times.”

Additionally, as part of HMC’s CLUBHOTEL® network, Hilton Hotels throughout the Middle East will benefit from the exposure to over one million members globally, and the potential to generate significant incremental revenue in both rooms and F&B. CLUBHOTEL members are local and international business owners, executives, professionals and travellers with genuine interest in booking rooms and patronizing establishments where they can receive the best value and quality.

ABOUT HILTON HOTELS CORPORATION

Hilton Hotels Corporation is the leading global hospitality company, with more than 3,300 hotels and 550,000 rooms in 77 countries and more than 130,000 team members worldwide. The company owns, manages or franchises some of the best known and highly regarded hotel brands including Hilton®, Conrad® Hotels & Resorts, Doubletree®, Embassy Suites Hotels®, Hampton Inn®, Hampton Inn & Suites®, Hilton Garden Inn®, Hilton Grand Vacations™, Homewood Suites by Hilton®, the Waldorf Astoria™ and the Waldorf Astoria Collection™, as well as the recently launched Home2 Suites by Hilton™.  The company also manages the world-class guest reward program Hilton HHonors®.

The company currently operates 41 hotels in the Middle East & Africa – 16 hotels in Egypt, nine hotels in the UAE, five in Saudi Arabia and one each in Oman and Kuwait, plus another nine hotels in Africa and the Indian Ocean.

Hilton Hotels has a signed development pipeline of an additional 20 properties across Middle East & Africa in the U.A.E, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan, Equatorial Guinea, Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria and Cape Verde.

The Hilton Family of Hotels adheres to founder Conrad Hilton’s philosophy that, “It has been, and continues to be, our responsibility to fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality.”  The company put a name to its unique brand of service that has made it the best known and most highly regarded hotel company:  be hospitable®.  The philosophy is shared by all brands in the Hilton Family of Hotels, and is the inspiration for its overarching message of kindness and generosity.

For more information about the company, please visit www.hiltonfamily.com.

The Hilton Reservations and Customer Care telephone numbers in the Middle East are as follows:
UAE        – 8000 20000 11            Qatar        – 800 97103
KSA        – 800 82000 10            Egypt        – 19009
Bahrain        – 8000 4058            Jordan        – 00 202 5805927
Kuwait        – 222 56 200            Lebanon        – 00 202 5805928
Oman        – 800 788788            Syria        – 00 202 5805926

For further information please contact:

Samantha Wood
Area Director of PR & Communications
Hilton Hotels, Middle East & Africa
Tel: +971 4 365 4886
Fax: +971 4 391 6792
Email: Samantha.Wood@hilton.com

or

Keren Gatty Saunt
Associate Account Director
d’pr
Tel: +971 4 313 3668
Fax: 00971 4 323 3669
Email: keren@d-pr.ae

About Hospitality Marketing Concepts

Headquartered in Newport Beach, Southern California, HMC is the leading provider of travel industry paid consumer membership and database management programmes. HMC provides services to more than 1,000 full-service hotels worldwide. A selection of clients includes InterContinental, Le Meridien, Starwood, Ritz, Shangri-La, Mandarin Oriental, Husa, Orbis, Raffles and Swissotel. HMC is a global company with offices in more than 50 countries including Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Poland, Portugal, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, UAE, Egypt, Venezuela, Brazil, Canada, United Kingdom and United States. Established in 1997, CLUBHOTEL is a worldwide network of four and five-star hotels, providing common benefits and recognition to an international membership base.  Members enjoy preferential room rates along with dining benefits at more than 600 branded and independent properties around the world. More information about HMC may be found on the company’s website www.hmcloyalty.com or by contacting Peter Gorla, Vice President of Marketing at +1 (949) 260-9538 or via email at gorlap@clubhotel.com.