Meetings Matter Chatter
Industry trends and topics pertaining to the travel and meetings industry
Meetings Matter Chatter
Why Hilton is “For the Stay” and the #1 World’s Best Workplace
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Hilton is a great place to work…and don’t take it from me! Hilton was recently awarded the #1 World’s Best Workplace by Great Place to Work and Fortune Magazine. Join the in-depth conversation with Gerilyn Horan, Vice President – Group Sales & Strategic Accounts with Hilton as we uncover why Hilton has won this prestigious award along with our discussion of new hotel developments, what to expect from Hilton in 2024, and much more! In Gerilyn’s role, she is responsible for leading the growth of the group segment for Hilton and ensuring her team members are collaborative, trusted advisors to their customers. Gerilyn, began her career with Hilton spending ten years in property and global sales roles including the Waldorf Astoria in New York and leading the San Francisco Worldwide Sales office. She then spent many years in the luxury sector traveling the globe with Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, Langham Hospitality Group and also Meadowood Napa Valley. Before rejoining Hilton Gerilyn was Vice President North America for HelmsBriscoe. There she worked with multinational customers on procuring their meetings and events and gained the invaluable perspective of the customer viewpoint. Gerilyn says returning to Hilton in 2018 shows you can go home!
All right, welcome to the latest episode of Meetings Matter Chatter. I'm your host, Nikki McLean, account director for BCD's venue search and meeting solutions department. And today we are chatting with an industry friend of ours, Gerilyn Haran, who is the vice president of group sales and strategic accounts with Hilton Worldwide. Welcome, Gerilyn. Hi, thanks so much for having me, Nikki. I'm so glad you were able to join today. I know as one of our preferred partners, I've been wanting to have you on the podcast. So I'm glad that we were able to make this happen before the end of the year. So thank you.
SPEAKER_00My pleasure.
SPEAKER_01All right. So one thing that we like to do is to start by telling the listeners a little bit about you and your background and how long you've worked with Hilton and how did you get into your role today?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, thank you. Well, I am uh a fortunate girl to be working for Hilton because I don't know if you read the big news, but um Fortune magazine and great place to work. Um, Hilton just won the world's best workplace, uh, number one. Um really exciting. I know we've been number one in in uh the US, you know, the in the country a couple of times, but the world, it's now total world domination.
SPEAKER_01So um world, wow, world's best.
SPEAKER_00That's amazing. Really exciting. Um, but anyway, yeah, no, I've been with Hilton um five years, and um I uh oversee the group sales and strategic accounts teams here at Hilton, as well as industry relations and global contracting. Um, have a super team that I'm I'm uh so fortunate to work with every day. And um, but I had previously funny, I started my career with Hilton, spent the first 10 years with Hilton, and um, you know, kind of worked my way up from a restaurant cashier and uh got myself to the Walter for Astoria in New York City, where I was the director of corporate sales and um and spent 10 great years with the company and then went off and worked for some other fabulous brands and Four Seasons being one of them, worked in the Napa Valley for a while at a luxury resort up there and then Langham Hotels, which was interesting, kind of bringing that uh brand to market and building their global sales organization in North America. Um, and then I decided it was time to go to the client side. I wanted to see what it was like, you know, thinking about the meeting uh, you know, industry and the meeting experience from beyond just the hotel side. And I was fortunate to work on Roger Helms' leadership team at Helms Briscoe. Um, and um had a great experience there and worked with some super customers and um and was, you know, sort of skipping along there and uh was um contacted about this opportunity with Hilton and thought, wow, wouldn't it be amazing to kind of go back to where it all started? And um and the company is completely different. Well, I left and I think we had 250 hotels, it was before all the acquisitions, and now we have over 7,000. So you can imagine it's a wee bit of a different company.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but you have such a fascinating background. I mean, you've hit on a lot of things. You started in a restaurant, you worked at the Waldorf, you have Hilton history, you worked at Holmes Frisco. Like, wow, that is really, really an exciting background to get you where you are today. So thank you for sharing that with us. Um, one thing that I wanted to hit on is you mentioned luxury. So um a lot of our customers uh are sourcing luxury properties specifically in the New York City area, as well as other key cities around the world. But what's new with the Hilton luxury segment? And what can you tell us about any new properties that you're excited about?
SPEAKER_00Oh my gosh, where to start? I mean, there's so much growth happening there, which is really exciting. And I guess I should first say, you know, our luxury brands are um uh Walter Fristoria and then Conrad and then LXR, which is um, you know, sort of a collection brand of, you know, really storied hotels. Um and so this year for me, one of the biggest things that will happen is the Walter Fastoria in New York will reopen at the end of 2024. Um, I don't know if you know, but it's been closed for, gosh, I think about four or five years now, five years. Um and um the building was, you know, I think initially 1,600 rooms and will reopen at the end of this year with 325 totally posh rooms. Um a lot of the original detailing is obviously still there, as are so many of the uh, you know, iconic storied uh function space that we all know, the grand ballroom and um, you know, the starlight roof is being repurposed. And then the top of the building is now um luxury condominiums, you know, living spaces. So it's that it's that sort of model that you see happening a lot. But the hotel is going to be spectacular. The the executive team is in there and we're we're really sort of ramping everything up and excited about that. So so that's a big one. Um, but you know, Walter for Story Alone, we opened um a Walder from Cairo this summer. Um we're opening in the Seychelles in Q1 of 24. Um, we've got a new LXR resort that opened, I think, in the summer in Bali. And um uh Conrad is opening up a new property in Orlando, which is which there's a lot of um interest in. It's such a you know key meetings destination. So that's opening, I believe, also in January. Um, Morocco is coming on board, so all these great, you know, sort of sexy destinations, I think we're we're getting properties in. So I'm I need to find some um PTOs so I can go see some of them.
SPEAKER_01You can go visit all of these, yes. And you know, you guys have been very gracious. There are several people on our sourcing team that have done the hard hat tours of the Waldorf in New York, and everyone was raving about it after the tour. So I think that's gonna be really highly anticipated. Our New York clients will love that. And then Orlando, too, like you said, it's such a big meetings market. I think it's probably, at least I can speak from my line of business, it's probably the number two destination where we send meetings outside of New York. So that'll be a good new property for our clients to use too. I thought you guys had something coming up in Boston. Is there anything new there that we should know about?
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, of course. Yeah, we just um we just got back in the family because it was many, many years ago, the Boston Park Plaza. Okay. So, in fact, I was just there. We had a leadership meeting there uh last month and um met with the team, super team, and you know, thousand keys. So it's a great, you know, big conference hotel, um, you know, super location, great shape. So we're really excited to have a large, you know, property, a large meetings-focused property in in Boston.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that it's another big corporate market for us where we see a lot of business going. And like you said, a thousand keys, that's a huge amount of rooms for the area. It's right downtown. My geography at Boston is not the best.
SPEAKER_00Where is it in the Back Bay and the Yeah, it's kind of right between, you know, if you know where the the two convention centers are, the Heinz and the B E B C E C, it's kind of between the two. Okay. Um, and so it'll be great for, I think, you know, internal, you know, you know, large meetings that will happen in-house, you know, single property. But I think it's also, you know, large enough that we'll be able to be um part of some of the blocks for some of the larger um conferences, but it's in a great location in the Back Bay. So, you know, you've got all the shopping, dining, you know, Boston Common isn't far. So it's it's a super location.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it sounds like it. Well, we'll definitely have to keep an eye out for that too. Um sorry, sorry to say one more thing.
SPEAKER_00The other one I should mention, our other massive news is we're opening our first purpose-built Cygnia hotel in Atlanta in January. So Cygnia is a brand that we launched um, you know, several years ago now that is a is a meetings-focused brand. So it's going to be, you know, certainly the sort of high-end meeting-focused property, um, you know, sophisticated design, great bars and restaurants, um, you know, expansive ballroom, flexible, kind of cool spaces. And um, and so Cygnia Atlanta, um, which is right by the convention center, will be opening um in mid-January this year. So there's gonna be a lot of fanfare around that. And it's booking up like crazy. So if there's something coming up you're thinking about in Atlanta, do think about the Cygnia because it's the um it's the hot new spot in town.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, sounds like it. We'll make sure to get our RFPs over there so we don't lose any space in that. Um, I had done an episode a couple, I guess it was a month or so now, about kind of incentive trips. And I've been reading some articles about all-inclusive resorts. What can you tell us about how Hilton kind of manages those? And, you know, are meetings going there? Is it truly just incentive trips? Like what are kind of some themes that you're seeing?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, wow, that's a great question. So the the the all-inclusive world is just blown up. Um, and you know, it's such a different, I think, experience than, you know, it's it's evolved so much in in the last you know decade or so. Um, so we definitely cater to groups, meetings, and events of all sizes with you know our signature all-inclusive offerings. Um, you know, we've got packages, perks, dedicated on-site events specialists that focus on, you know, planning this perfect event. Um, and it's like setting a new standard. So, you know, guests can expect an elevated dining option, you know, that goes beyond the buffet we all think about. But I think more importantly, for meetings and events, customize to the event, you know, to provide that you know, fluid experience that you want, some privatizing of some of the events if you want, um, but eliminating kind of you know the cost and the stress of planning because so much of it's already baked. So planners that we work with are like, gosh, this is like the easiest thing. Um, and the experience is you know phenomenal and um uh and easy. So we've got some incredible, you know, the Hilton Um in uh all inclusive in Cancun and the Hilton All-Inclusive in Tulum are our new um newest, well, some of our newest properties um in that space. And they also are complex. So the Tulum Hilton is complex with a Conrad. So you've got the luxury piece right uh attached to you, and then the same with the Hilton Cancun All-Inclusive is complex with the Walter Fristoria Cancun. So um, yeah, so a pretty cool, you know, um venture that we're we're really leaning into, and you'll see lots more throughout Mexico. We have Dominican Republic um and are continuing to grow.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no, I think that's a great point. You've got kind of, like you said, the complex part, you've got Hilton, you've got the luxury there too. And I think you're right, the planners are like, gosh, can we make this any easier for ourselves? And when you already have that package, you know what you're spending. It's easier to kind of get some of those things across the finish line from a contracting and budgeting standpoint, right? So that's good.
SPEAKER_00And then, you know, all the other things, like the activities, you know, most of them they keep one of those hotels, or there's so much going on there. So it's like you don't have to be thinking about where do I go off-site for activities? You know, some of it's so much of it can be right there, although there certainly are, you know, off-site things as well if you want some variety, but you know, a lot of it is just baked in right there. So it really is easy and and and you know, cost saving.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no, I love that. And I think the listeners will too. Um, so let's talk a little bit about switching gears here to service levels, occupancy levels, kind of what are you been seeing across your portfolio? I mean, obviously, we all know if we've stayed at a Hilton before, you know the service, you know what to expect from it. Um, and so how how has that been since you know coming out of the pandemic? Like you feel like you're back up to top-tier service levels? Are you struggling with anything still? Or what can you report on that?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, I would say, listen, everybody knows, you know, through COVID and coming out of it, it it took a minute, you know. I mean, the industry was shut down, you know, buildings closed. And um, so it took a minute to, you know, get uh get ramped back up again. And fortunately, we feel really good about where we are now. Um and certainly, you know, being the world's did I say the world's best place to work? Um you did, yes, yes. I might say it one or two more times before we finish here. That's but um but yeah, so I mean, obviously we have an incredible culture at Hilton, and we're fortunate that, you know, when we post jobs, you know, we we we're very fortunate in the number of responses we get. So we feel good about, you know, um where we are in terms of staffing and in terms of performance, I mean it's it's just been incredible. I mean, the the the beauty is, you know, we were at IMAX and I had so many meetings with our top customers, um, you know, corporate customers, intermediary customers, TMCs, and and you know, the sentiment is just full on, you know, meetings are back, you know. So any conversation.
SPEAKER_01Busier than ever. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00You know, it's just nuts. I can't keep up, you know, it's it's it's it's crazy. And um, and our numbers show it. You know, I was looking at just our um, you know, my team's uh lead volume, you know, as we look at you know what they're doing quarter by quarter, and you know, they've been up double digits every quarter, you know, 20, 30 percent some quarters um in terms of lead volume over even 2022. Never mind, you know, going back to 19. Yeah. So it's it's really amazing. And you know, you look at things like the STAR report and and um you know, they're talking about 2024 expecting an 8% lift uh in group demand over 2023. So it looks like it's just continuing to grow. And I and I would say one of the I think important metrics too is you know, we were like in our lead demand, let's for instance in Q3, we were up, I don't know, 11, 12%, and we were flat in demand for, you know, pretty close in our in our year in 23 and you know, in the year arrivals. But the great news was 24, 5, 6, all future years were up something like 15%. And as you know, there's been a right because there'd been a period when people were a little hesitant to book further out and you know, let me just wait and see. And and I think everybody is seeing like, oh my gosh, I waited and then I can't get what I want. Um, and so I better start to look further out. And so that's a really smart uh move, I think, on customers' parts, and we're we're definitely seeing it. And and star um also industry-wide is saying, you know, the same thing. So I think the, you know, the the forecast looks good, even though, you know, there's still lots of chitter chatter about the economy and all the things happening in the world and you know what that may or may not do. But um, you know, there's a continued strong industry performance, you know, that sort of suggests most segments are just approaching their new normal. So we're excited about that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And thank you for bringing up the lead time component. I was just having a conversation the other day with someone, and we were sort of laughing because we got a lead recently for, I would say, 100, 150 person national sales kickoff meeting in January. And we were laughing. We're like, oh my gosh, they don't have a hotel yet. But I'm sure there's properties that could still use a group of that size, right? So do you have any need-based cities or any news that you'd want us to be aware of or the listeners should keep in mind for these upcoming next couple quarters?
SPEAKER_00Um, you know, yeah. I mean, I think, you know, think about obviously, you know, like let's say Q1 for a meeting like that, you know, it's gonna be tight trying to find things in, you know, the Orlando's and the Scottsdales and the, you know, the warm destinations. But I think a lot of the cities are still, you know, if if anywhere is is is you know lagging behind it all. I think some some of the major cities may still be. Um, so think about you know, those as you consider, you know, where you might take a meeting like that. You know, for instance, Chicago, San Francisco, I mean, um, you know, New York is certainly back. Um, but you know, some of those larger cities really um are still, you know, kind of finding their way. Um, you know, Portland. Um, so that would be my suggestion, you know, if you're looking for short term. And they're great, you know, great locations. I mean, phenomenal. So um with with you know, lots of super product.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no, absolutely. We were joking that no one would want to come to Minneapolis because it's so cold, but there's a lot of things to do, right? So I think it's all what it's all what you make of it, right? But that's good to know. I mean, we we have gotten some feedback on some of the larger cities being still a little bit down from where they are, but you know, hopefully coming back to to pre-pandemic levels soon.
SPEAKER_00But you know, that you raise a good point, you know, that we we talk about a lot, obviously, too, is you know, sort of that secondary city, you know, like a I mentioned Portland or like a Minneapolis or like a Columbus, you know, or there's some amazing cities, you know, Louisville, I mean, doing really cool things with um, you know, good lift and and super hotels and Indy, you know, we just were breaking ground on a new uh um Cygnia in in Indianapolis. Um so nice, you know, think about those kind of secondary and even tertiary cities that you know have so much to offer.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. You know, it you just made me think of something. So I'm not super familiar with Cygnia. Are there other kind of sub-brands under Hilton that you feel like are, I don't want to say underrepresented, but maybe not as well known as the other luxury brands that you mentioned earlier?
SPEAKER_00Well, you know, we've got, I think, what is it, 20, 22 brands now. I lose, I lose count. So um so don't, don't, don't quiz me on this, no. Um but yeah, no, I think well, Signia certainly for the meetings um, you know, industry is is our biggest news because it's it's you know, it's it's uh it's new. Um but you know, I think one of the other brands, and particularly for meetings and events that you know people don't think about as much is embassy suites. I mean, embassy suites has gone through such a kind of you know um uh resurgence, and there's some fabulous embassy suites that have, you know, big meeting space and um you know good locations, good cities. So I think you know, embassy is is certainly you know one that um you know people should probably think more about, you know, Nashville downtown. We've got a property that's um we expanded our footprint and and added the Hilton Nashville downtown. It's the largest embassy suites in the country. Um, we've got now um embassy suites in Aruba, we've got a new one, uh, believe it or not, in Dubai. I mean, so that's that's a brand that I think, you know, people should pay some attention to for sure.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I remember back in the day when I was a meeting planner, I had a company where we did a lot of interview events for like recruiting candidates to come work for the company. And the client always wanted to go with an embassy suites because they love the fact that you could do the interviewers went to the rooms and they did the interview and the suite part, and then it was closed off from the bathroom bedroom, you know, that kind of thing. And it just made the candidates feel comfortable because they were like in their home, if you will. And then they got to do the interviews, and then, you know, the lucky ones got hired, right? But it was always a really fantastic kind of turn and burn repeat program that we did with that brand. So I totally get why they're so fabulous and I can't wait to see some of the new ones.
SPEAKER_00Love that. That's awesome.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And you mentioned, you know, residential style, home style, whatever. You know, we've got two new brands, another two brands that not necessarily meetings and events focused, but they'll certainly have a group component, um, is Spark and H3. And they're some of that, you know, mid um, you know, kind of more economy scale, but they're gonna have, you know, full kitchens, um, and you know, the op the ability, that's H3, and the ability um, you know, to easily book a room and come in and a good cost. So if even if it's like, you know, we're seeing where the groups might come in, is there might be the opportunity for, let's say, you know, a lot of meetings as we know now are happening at um offices. Like so where before people might go out and book a hotel and have the meeting there. Well, now there's so much extra meeting space and just space in a lot of these offices. You know, companies are saying hold the meeting in the office and then just go go to room block of rooms. Yeah. And uh, I think Spark and H3, both because of the price point and because of the, you know, sort of more residential feel to it, will be a great opportunity for people that are coming in for, you know, training or any kind of long-term stay or or just, you know, a few days for a meeting. So that's two more brands that um are just in their infancy stages, but are are coming out gangbusters, actually. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01No, that'll be exciting to see how they grow. Um, for those listeners that listen to, gosh, is it two or three episodes ago, we had Bruce and Britney from BCD talk about our trends report that we put out from BCD, but you were featured in it as well. Is there anything that you want to highlight from a Hilton standpoint that you discussed kind of in that trends report that you think the listeners should pay attention to?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, I think first of all, it was um it was great to be uh invited to do that and really appreciated, you know, the opportunity to support our good partners. So that was a lot of fun. Um, and I would say um, you know, we talked a lot about, you know, just how things are the the changing nature of the landscape and sort of where we're landing today. Um, and you know, things that were traditionally the way we would evaluate, you know, how a meeting um is the success of a meeting is is looked at or not, um, has changed. And you know, some of that are things like, you know, we're focused on you know, the connection and the depth of connection with. People and we're we're really focused on the mental and physical well-being of participants, and we're trying to create environments, you know, both within you know the meeting experience and as we as we continue to build and create brands and you know renovate spaces that are going to you know kind of reshape you know the way that we meet um and you know in in this sort of really transformative period. So it's it was a well it was a lot of like what is the new normal? What have we learned from COVID? And what is it people are looking for in the meeting experience? And how do we embrace that and bring that to life in our hotels?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I mean, we talk a lot about that too, where you know, people got a little bit set in their ways during COVID, during the lockdown, especially, where you were like, okay, I can't go anywhere, I'm forced not to go anywhere. So, like, how am I going to spend my time? And then now that we have the freedom again to do what we want to do, people are being very specific in what they choose to do, where they choose to go, where they choose to stay, how they choose to spend their time. And I think that if anything, that's a huge, I think, bonus that came out of it because it gives people that ability to really self-select instead of being like, oh, I'm told to go here, I need to do this or blah, blah, blah. So I think that that's been, you know, a really positive thing that's come out of it. And I we love seeing that, you know, from a hospitality perspective, your brand is thinking of that. Like what's gonna get people to stay and like have dinner at my property, have a drink at my property, like, you know, have my breakfast, all the different things, have a meeting, that kind of thing that um hopefully then helps generate revenue for you. But you're you're thinking about the whole picture there, which is great.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And what's gonna make them feel, you know, comfortable and and you know, safe and happy, like they're feeling at home because that you know, people got so used to that. And uh, but then the other thing is that, but and then how do you create spaces though to allow the the you know, the the team members to sort of you know build culture on the road, you know, because you know, they're not in the office anymore in many cases. And so, you know, when they come together in this way, that's the opportunity for a company and a business and team members to connect and to, you know, to to build that culture and and leave feeling connected to you know their bigger purpose. And so how can we help them through their experience at our hotels achieve that?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely. You know, you've talked so much about your different properties and everything that you have opening and coming up, but I I recall from staying at Hilton Properties that you guys have become very technology savvy. Is there anything that you can tell the listeners about technology or any innovation that you guys are driving within the brands or the properties?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no doubt. I mean, you know, we know that our travelers are seeking, you know, just more consistent and seamless experiences that are really, you know, hyper-personalized to their needs. And that's from, you know, when they start booking with us to the on-property experience. And so we're trying to meet, you know, travelers where they are. I mean, some of the things that we've um put in place, you know, in the last um couple of years are um digital key. So, you know, you can you can just you know you have to check in, you're checking on your phone, you you can assign your room, what room you want, you can your key gets delivered to your phone, you just go right up to your room. You don't even have to stop in and and uh pick up your key. Although, you know, we want to make sure that we still are able to provide the warm Hilton hospitality. But, you know, listen, people want, you know, ease of doing business. So that's one of the ways. Um I think the other way is um um allowing, like, you know, at the time of booking, some of the things that we've enabled technology technologically are connected rooms. You know, it used to be that you kind of requested a connected room, you'd see if you got it. You can actually now book and confirm a connected room while you're, you know, while in the booking process. Um, you know, we're working on ways for us to be able to connect and hear from our guests while they're on property about their experience, you know, through text, et cetera, so we can solution for issues they may have while they're with us, um, which I think is important. And then think about ways like room service. You know, now you go into a room and what do you see? But you see a QR code, and so you can look at the menu order right there, you know. So it's all those kinds of things that we're listening to what our guests are telling us, um, and you know, working on the technology to, you know, enable those in in our hotel. So I think it's gonna be amazing the things that you're gonna see over the next few years.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I'm excited about that. And I think that you're right, those types of innovations also drive like efficiencies. And so you're not like waiting for the phone to answer or waiting to, you know, your staff is ready to respond to those texts or those, you know, online orders, whatever's coming in and being able to respond to that quickly. One question I have about digital key is so you know how sometimes when you check in, they ask you for ID or credit card for incidentals, whatever. Is that just kind of in the app and it knows who you are because you've already logged in and then your cards there? Is that how it works?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, exactly. So, yep, you're you know, this is all happening through the Hilton Honors app. And so you've been identified already by who you are when you log in, and that houses all your details and your credit card. And so, yeah, you that's you just go right up to the room. There's no stopping at the desk. Wow, that's really slick. It is, it is. And you know, the other thing that that um we're working on, which I love, is this um ability to, you know, control the TV and uh with your phone so that you can log on to Netflix at a hotel. And um now when you go to the next hotel, you're not gonna have to go back in and you know log in and start it all over again. You know, we're gonna be able to kind of take your uh streaming service with you from hotel to hotel. So that's something that's really cool. That's in the works. Because, you know, I know when I'm I'm on the road and if I'm in the middle of a Netflix, you know, business situation, I need to do it.
SPEAKER_01You need to finish that episode. Yeah. No, that is amazing. And it's funny, I was on a trip recently and it rained. So the outdoor thing we were supposed to do got canceled. So I had an extra hour or so in my room, and I was like, I'm gonna watch, you know, this new episode of The Crown. And I just logged in and watched a couple episodes and then went about my day. So yeah, I think frequent travelers will definitely appreciate that kind of saving their favorites or their login information. That's great.
SPEAKER_00Totally, yeah. So all that's all that's the sort of stuff that's in the works, and um, and who knows? I mean, you know, who knows what's around the quarter? It's it's really, it's really great.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, the sky is kind of the limit when it comes to technology. So that's awesome. So I'm gonna go back to um one of the things you said right at the top of the call, which I think is great, is so world's best place to work, Fortune magazine. Um, and this is not just in the US, this is a a global award. So, from your perspective, having worked there, um, what does make it the best place to work? Like what's your favorite thing that you enjoy about working with Hilton?
SPEAKER_00You know, I have to say, it's it's really crazy, but it is it is truly um a sense of a family. And, you know, it's interesting. We had a we had a um a whole team, you know, call that we got on the call globally and we didn't, we didn't know we won it. And our CEO announced it to all of us, and it was this, it was this, um, it was this great moment where we, you know, we all learned it. And we were able to kind of, you know, put in what we were feeling or what we like about Hilton. It was one of those, you know, word, word all things popped up on the screen, and the biggest word that came up was family that people that was what everybody said. And and I remember when I was interviewing for this role, and you know, people kept saying that to me in the interview process, and I was sort of like, oh, I don't know, family family, like really, yeah. I have a family, yeah. You know, but you hear that and you think, I don't know. And and then I got in here, and after a while, I was like, oh my gosh, they're not kidding. Like there's really it is a family, like people really look out for one another, and people are, you know, supportive of one another and and work really, you know, together, you know, for the best of the company. And um, and it's just an incredible culture that you know, Chris Nassetta, our CEO, has has created along with you know the executive team and have really doubled down on that sort of a culture that has really resonated with with people. And so to have 450,000 employees in a hundred and I don't even know, 50-something countries, um, and you know, that many people um, you know, to come together in that way is pretty incredible.
SPEAKER_01That is incredible. And feel free to tout that throughout the rest of next year that you guys won that award because that is really truly very exciting. So congrats there. Congrats, Helton. Um okay, so I'm gonna shift it to a little bit of a personal thing because we are kind of approaching the holidays here. Um, and since I already asked how you got to where you are, um, I have a couple kind of final, kind of personalized questions, but um, what is on your holiday wish list this year? What do you want for the holidays?
SPEAKER_00Oh my gosh. All right. So I think the thing I want the most is I want a La Crusette. Do you know what that is?
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You want one of those crocs, like the big crocs?
SPEAKER_00I do. I do. I want the really big one.
SPEAKER_01Um like the Julia Child type uh Yes.
SPEAKER_00Yes, yeah. I want to be, I love to entertain and um and I love when I'm entertaining to do, like I'm entertaining people Saturday night. I've got 10 for dinner, and I'm doing um a beef bourguignon because you could make it in your life. Yes, yum. You know, it's like because I don't like to be, you know, stuck in the kitchen while everyone's having fun. So you can make that in advance and you know, make a salad and a few other things. Um, but I I have sort of a cheap imitation, you know, of course. You need the real deal. You need the real one. Yeah. So I want the real deal. So that's the big that's that's my um my thing on on my list. And uh yeah, just to, you know, spend time with family and friends and and uh hopefully wrap up a strong year. You know, we've we've had a super year. The team has done an amazing job this year. I'm so proud of them. And uh I'm uh I'm looking forward to a strong wrap to 2023.
SPEAKER_01Awesome. Well, we wish that for you as well. Um so this is another interesting one. So um it sounds like you love what you do and you're very passionate about it. But if you weren't doing what you're doing today at Hilton, what would you do with your life? Like maybe it's a retirement thing or if you had all the money in the world type thing, like what would you do?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Well, I always say, like, if I uh if I was starting over, um, do you know Christiane Amonport was or is? Yes, I do. Yeah, she was a um sort of a CNN world reporter, and like she was always in like different parts of the world where stuff was happening, and like she was always on the ground and looked like in a little danger, and you know, like but she was on the streets in the news, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, but like part of history, like seeing everything happen, you know, as it went down right in front of her and asking hard questions and you know, having really uh amazing conversations with, you know, world leaders in the middle of really important stuff. And I just I was I always admired her and thought, wow, that's that's gotta be incredible to you know do what she does and and be um be in the midst of things like she is. So yeah, that was a that that's probably what you would say. It would probably be okay. Yeah. All right.
SPEAKER_01I like that. I like that answer. As a fellow journalist myself, I can appreciate that. So thank you.
SPEAKER_00That's right. That's right.
SPEAKER_01See that? I'm I'm finally using my journalism background to do this podcast. So it's kind of like my on the streets with the industry uh vibe that I've got here. So thank you.
SPEAKER_00Love it. Love it.
SPEAKER_01Um, okay, so final thoughts. I want to leave our listeners with kind of one final message about Hilton. So, what would you say you'd like the listeners to remember from today's chat?
SPEAKER_00Wow, I would just, you know, say that there's so much going on. I mean, the things that we were doing, you know, we're doing that we didn't even talk about like all the digital innovation and things that we're doing to be able to provide a you know an even more personalized and frictionless experience for our travelers that's that's going on. Um, and I would think all the growth and all of the incredible new locations we're coming into, the new brands, like Hilton's the place to be. So please think of us when you know, whatever it is you're you're thinking about, um, you know, let us know, and we I'm sure we've got a solution. And and I really just want to say, you know, we so value our partnership um with BCD. You guys are amazing. I mean, we have such a um a give and take, a strategic partnership. We're working together for what's the you know the best outcome for our mutual customers um with respect and um and you know support. And we we just we really value it. So I want to say thank you for for that.
SPEAKER_01Oh, you're very welcome. And we are very, we are very thankful for the partnership as well. I know you guys do a lot for our customers and our attendees that are coming to the meeting. So thank you so much for that. Um, so with that, we are gonna wrap up and um thank you, listeners, again, and thank you, Gerilyn, for joining today. I think it was a very insightful conversation, and we look forward to everything that Hilton has coming up in 2024 and beyond.
SPEAKER_00Awesome. Thank you so much, Nikki, for having me. And um, if I don't speak with you again, enjoy the holidays. Thank you, you too.