Hilton Expands Welcome Program for Chinese Travelers Globally

Hilton Worldwide today announced the expansion of Hilton Huanying (huān yίng) - a program that offers Chinese travelers a customized hospitality experience during their stay - to more than 110 Hilton Worldwide properties globally. As Chinese citizens make up the world's largest outbound travel market¹ and are continually evolving in their needs, Hilton has updated the Huanying program amenities and service standards. These offerings meet the needs of the modern day Chinese traveler, while maintaining the comforts that harken back to home. With this expansion, Hilton Huanying - deriving its name from the Chinese word for 'welcome' - will now greet guests at participating hotels under brands including Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts and DoubleTree by Hilton in more than 30 countries and 65 cities popular among Chinese travelers, including Tokyo, Seoul, London, Paris, New York and San Francisco.

"Huanying is an essential part of the Hilton hospitality promise, welcoming Chinese travelers with a level of service and personalization we know they expect and enjoy," said Rob Palleschi, global head, full service brands, Hilton Worldwide. "Since being introduced in 2011 at 51 properties in 13 countries, Huanying has empowered more than a million Chinese travelers to explore new destinations with the comforts of home. We are very proud of this program, and the benefits are clear. Chinese travelers who stay at Huanying properties express a greater overall satisfaction in their hospitality experience."

Chinese outbound travel is expected to grow at an unprecedented pace, with the number of outbound Chinese travelers expected to double from 100M to 200M by 2020², and Hilton is responding by enhancing its Huanying program. Through its extensive field research, Hilton has discovered that Chinese guests who stay at participating properties expressed a substantial increase in customer satisfaction in areas including service, accommodations, property loyalty and overall experience. In fact, a third party survey found that Hilton is the preferred hotel brand amongst Chinese travelers³.

"Driven by our in-depth knowledge of China, where we have been operating hotels for over 25 years, and our position as a global hospitality company with over 4,300 hotels operating in 94 countries, we have a unique advantage in addressing the needs of the Chinese travelers," said Martin Rinck, president, Asia Pacific, Hilton Worldwide. "With this in mind, we applied our comprehensive understanding of where Chinese travelers like to visit and what they look for when they stay at a hotel, in order to develop a tailor-made service that better meets the needs of our Chinese guests, in the form of Hilton Huanying."

In order to continue to best serve the needs of the evolving Chinese traveler, Huanying program offerings have been expanded to include additional locations, expanded traditional breakfast options and a 24-hour interpretation service that Mandarin-speaking guests may access during their travels.

These offerings were added while maintaining Huanying's focus on three signature hospitality touch points: the arrival experience, guest room amenities and the breakfast experience. The complete list of Huanying offerings include:

Arrival Experience

• Huanying Greeting: a welcome note in Simplified Chinese
• Mandarin interpretation service (Many properties offer Mandarin speaking team member(s) as well)

Guest Room Amenities

• Tea kettles
• Jasmine tea
• Slippers
• Dedicated Mandarin-speaking television channel

Breakfast Experience

• Two varieties of congee with condiments, fried rice or fried noodles, a dim sum selection, fried dough fritters (crullers), hard boiled eggs, Chinese tea, fresh fruit and soy milk
• Chinese culinary utensils including chopsticks, Chinese spoons and a soy sauce dish

Travelers may access a list of participating Hilton Huanying hotels at www.hilton.com.cn/huanying. To download images and access more information, visit news.hilton.com/huanying. Information in Chinese is available at www.hilton.com.cn and news.hilton.com.cn/huanying.

References
1. China Outbound Tourism in 2013. (2013, January 1). Retrieved February 27, 2015, from http://www.travelchinaguide.com/tourism/2013statistics/outbound.htm
2. CLSA: US Lodging Sector Outlook (Oh, J., 20 January 2015, p. 1)
3. CLSA: US Lodging Sector Outlook (Oh, J., 20 January 2015, p. 1, chart 1)

About Hilton

Hilton (NYSE: HLT) is a leading global hospitality company with a portfolio of 18 world-class brands comprising more than 6,800 properties and more than 1 million rooms, in 122 countries and territories. Dedicated to fulfilling its founding vision to fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality, Hilton has welcomed more than 3 billion guests in its more than 100-year history, earned a top spot on the 2021 World's Best Workplaces list and been recognized as a global leader on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices for five consecutive years. In 2021, in addition to opening more than one hotel a day, Hilton introduced several industry-leading technology enhancements to improve the guest experience, including Digital Key Share, automated complimentary room upgrades and the ability to book confirmed connecting rooms. Through the award-winning guest loyalty program Hilton Honors, the nearly 128 million members who book directly with Hilton can earn Points for hotel stays and experiences money can't buy. With the free Hilton Honors app, guests can book their stay, select their room, check in, unlock their door with a Digital Key and check out, all from their smartphone. Visit newsroom.hilton.com for more information, and connect with Hilton on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.