CAIRO: Simon Hasdell, Hilton Hotel's vice president of operations for Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, believes in Egypt s huge potential when it comes to the tourism and hotel industry. Hasdell used to be the general manager of Hilton Tokyo Bay, located at the Tokyo Disney Resort. He told The Daily Star Egypt that the hotel industry in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria is developing while in Egypt it is very well established. The government s development and economic reform initiatives, Hasdell believes, reflected in an "overly positive way on the tourism and hotel industry in Egypt. We are expecting 11 million tourists in 2011 and we are already sitting on over nine million, Hasdell said. In the past 12 months Cairo has been a booming city, as Hasdell described it, in terms of demand for hotel rooms and conference halls. I have to say that the marketing campaign of the ministry of tourism which began 18 months ago has been more successful than any others, Hasdell said. Despite competition from new hotels which opened in the past five years, Hasdell is confident. "The Nile Hilton has been present for around 150 years and is still number one in terms of market share. The Downtown area, according to Hasdell, still remains the center of the city and so competition in the suburbs does not threaten the Hilton's supremacy Downtown. But he believes that the perception of Hilton hotels as restricted to Arab tourists is wrong. We have Egyptian families that have been holding their weddings at the Hilton for more than 25 years, one generation after the other. In our business strategy we aim to have a mix of the market that includes different tourists so that if, for any reason a certain market share drops, the other parts can pick it up. When asked about the rumor that attacked Hilton hotels a couple of years ago about a homosexual wedding that took place at the Ramses Hilton, Hasdell responded that the hotel did not lose one wedding booking because of it. The level of service and the high standards that the Hilton offers are enough to put an end to any wrong perceptions, says Hasdell. While refusing to indicate Hilton s strategy in terms of security and crisis managements Hasdell emphasized that Hilton Taba has been back in business for two years [following the terrorist attack three years ago]. "Crisis management, he says, has to be one of the main concerns of any business at any time. Hasdell indicated that the Hilton's expansion plans include new locations in three main destinations: Luxor, Marsa Allam and the North Coast, where he sees great future potential at. Hasdell joined Hilton International at London Park Lane after he graduated from high school where he started in purchasing, and moved up to join the management opening team of the Gatwick Hilton in 1981. From that time on he has been holding senior positions across the globe including several years in Dubai, Nigeria, Nairobi and Scotland before going to Tokyo Bay in 1999.
