SINGAPORE – Dutch-born and raised Koos Klein, president of Hilton Hotels – Asia Pacific, has been named “Asia Pacific Hotelier of the Year 2007†at the 11th Asia Pacific Hotel Investment Conference, hosted by Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels.
The ninth recipient to receive the award, Klein has spent 16 years of his 27-year career in Asia Pacific.
Since his appointment as president, Hilton Hotels – Asia Pacific in 1997, Klein has spearheaded dynamic growth of the Hilton brand in the region from 25 hotels to 60 today.
He has also overseen the company’s strong financial performance with Hilton’s revenue in Asia Pacific having doubled and profits quadrupled over the past decade.
Today, Klein oversees the largest development pipeline in Hilton’s history in Asia Pacific, with the group poised to open 300 hotels in the next nine years.
As part of its plans to introduce the Hilton family of brands to Asia Pacific under Klein’s leadership, Hilton Hotels has formed strategic partnerships with India’s largest developer, DLF, to own and develop 75 hotels in seven years; and with Marigold Hospitality Limited to franchise 16 Hampton by Hilton economy hotels in India.
In China, the company will operate 26 hotels in China by 2011 and has entered into a deal to franchise 25 hotels under its mid-scale brand, Hilton Garden Inn®, to RREEF Alternative Investments (the global alternative investment management business of Deutsche Bank) and H & Q Asia Pacific).
“There has never been a more exciting time in the hotel industry and it is truly the century for Asia Pacific to blossom,” Klein said.
