Hilton International Hotels’ new Chief Executive, Ian Carter, has announced a new structure for the business, effective July 1, 2005. As part of the process of developing his strategy for the global hotel operator, the structure aims to provide the foundation for Hilton International’s growth over the next three to five years.
Details of Ian Carter’s strategic review will be released later this year. To date, the new Chief Executive of Hilton International has made no secret that he believes that operational and commercial excellence must be at the heart of Hilton International’s strategy.

In line with this focus, the changes to Hilton’s operating structure,  shared with colleagues across Hilton International last week, see the introduction of a new Commercial Operations Group, which will comprise the Sales, Marketing, eCommerce and Distribution and IT functions.  This will be led by Jurgen Fischer, currently President, Europe & Africa, who has been appointed President, Commercial Operations Group. All Presidents report directly to Ian Carter.

Jurgen’s existing role will be taken up by Wolfgang M. Neumann, after two and a half years as president, UK & Ireland.  Howard Friedman - currently president, The Americas - in turn takes over the President, UK & Ireland role.  And Simon Barlow, currently vice president of operations, Asia becomes president, The Americas.  The full line-up of regional presidents will be:

á Wolfgang M. Neumann - President, Europe and Africa

á Koos Klein - President, Middle East & Asia Pacific

á Jean-Paul Herzog - President, Nordic

á Simon Barlow - President, The Americas

á Howard Friedman - President, UK & Ireland

Talking about the announcement, Ian Carter said, “As our customers become more global in their organization and the Internet becomes increasingly important to our revenues, it is essential that our own structure and
priorities adapt to deliver this new reality.  It is clear that cost
efficiencies and better co-ordination will be achieved through a global approach to brand and distribution management.”

“These structural changes give us a major opportunity to improve our performance through more effective co-ordination and prioritization. The purpose of the Commercial Operations Group is to provide consistent, global leadership and co-ordination of our sales and commercial efforts, all of which should, I believe, benefit both our customers and our shareholders”, added Mr. Carter.
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