HILTON Hotels, the global hospitality comp-any, has regained its top ranking as the leading hotel brand of choice in the Middle East.

The Middle East Hotel Business Guest Survey 2007 was conducted by a third-party inde-pendent research company, Business Development Research Consultants (BDRC).
Hilton in the Middle East has won three accolades; the Number One Hotel Brand in the Middle East and the Middle East Business Traveller’s Leading Choice Hotel Brand. The  Hilton HHonors customer loyalty prog-ramme claimed the top spot for awareness among business trav-ellers and total frequent stayers.
The rankings, published in the 2007 BDRC survey report,  saw Hilton take pole position in four of the five criteria terms, including unaided awareness, level of usage, preferred first or second choice for guests, and the highest loyalty ratio.
Jean-Paul Herzog, president, Hilton Hotels, Middle East & Africa said, “The BDRC survey is an internationally acknowledged industry benchmark that allows hospitality brands to assess their strengths and areas of potential growth. The ranking is testament to our overall commitment to hospitality and guest service. This is a tremendous accolade.”
The survey gave more than  900 business travellers the oppor-tunity to express their views on both business and leisure travel across the GCC, Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan. It explored  determin-ants such as selection and reservation processes, attitudes towards hotel choices, website usage, loyalty programmes, and brand awareness.
Business travel in the Middle East has increased from 35 per cent in 2006 to 41 per cent in 2007, with frequent travellers contributing almost three-quarters of all business room nights.
Hilton commanded a 20.4 per cent market share last year in the Middle East, the highest in the region, with a global high of 19.6 per cent.
It also ranked amongst the most improved upscale brands year on year, as part of its continued commitment to provide best in class product and service.