New Hilton name highlights resort properties

The flagship brand of Hilton Worldwide has changed its name from Hilton Hotels to Hilton Hotels & Resorts and introduced a new logo. Just one year after resorts around the country downplayed the “r” word to attract meeting and business travelers in the wake of the AIG effect, the brand is highlighting the fact that it has 70 resorts with more than 32,600 guest rooms in key leisure markets around the world.

Hilton’s renewed focus on resort properties is a positive sign for the company as the travel industry rebounds, but reports are still mixed on just how well the industry is recovering. Airlines posted large profits the first half of the year, but many point to the increase of fees as the reason. AAA forecasts positive numbers for the upcoming Labor Day weekend — airfares, car rental rates and hotel rates will be up as much as nine percent and the number of Americans traveling over the holiday will increase 9.9 percent — but these increases are compared to dismal 2009 numbers.

The research firm Rubicon reports that numbers such as occupancy are not up very much, and the holiday weekend does not show as much promise as early summer projections did.

“Right now, it’s a little more wait and see,” Adam Weissenberg, vice chairman of U.S. tourism, hospitality and leisure for Deloitte, told hotelnewsnow.com, a division of STR. He credits stagnant job recovery and more discussion about the possibility of a double-dip recession for the less positive outlook.