HILTON Worldwide fully intends to have a lifestyle brand at the appropriate time, according to its president of global brands and commercial services, Paul Brown.
The chain will be able to launch such a brand from January 2013, having been legally stopped in its tracks by Starwood Hotels & Resorts in launching Denizen, after Starwood accused then Hilton Hotels Corp of stealing its documents to develop the ‘W’ type brand.
“We have concepts in the works, but I do think there is now less explosive growth in the segment, and the timing may not be right for us, as we are growing rapidly with the current brands that we have.
“There are still lots of opportunities for growth, especially in Asia-Pacific. Remember, until four years ago, we weren’t allowed to bring the Hilton brands in the US to Asia-Pacific,” Brown said during an interview in Singapore.
The core Hilton brand was still the fastest-growing in Asia-Pacific, followed by Doubletree by Hilton and Conrad in terms of number of properties, he said.
