McLEAN, Va.—Hilton today celebrates its milestone 100th anniversary. To mark the occasion, hundreds of hotels around the world are extending Hilton hospitality beyond their doors by taking “Random Acts of Hospitality” to their communities. As it looks ahead to its next century, Hilton also announced the creation of The Hilton Effect Foundation, which will invest in both organizations and people having a positive impact on the communities Hilton serves. The Foundation is launching this week with 15 grants to organizations that will support communities around the world and programs that are creating opportunities for youth, aiding in disaster recovery, and supporting water stewardship and sustainability.
The Foundation builds on the impact of Hilton’s Travel with Purpose corporate responsibility strategy, which seeks to double the company’s investment in social impact while cutting Hilton’s environmental footprint in half by 2030. Since the inception of Travel with Purpose in 2011, Hilton’s Team Members have performed more than 1.3 million hours of volunteer service and the company has invested tens of millions of dollars in the communities it serves. As Hilton’s primary international philanthropic arm, the Foundation will channel financial and in-kind resources to further amplify the Hilton Effect on guests, team members, and communities.
“One hundred years ago, Conrad Hilton had a noble idea that travel can make the world a better place,” said Chris Nassetta, president and CEO of Hilton. “That deep-rooted sense of purpose has fueled our transformative impact all across the globe, as we have welcomed 3 billion guests, employed 10 million team members, and contributed $1 trillion in economic impact. And in the years to come, we will do even more to positively change the world through our Hilton Effect Foundation.”
In addition to the Foundation, the company has also launched a grassroots service initiative called “Random Acts of Hospitality.” Employees throughout Hilton locations around the world are conducting meaningful, simple gestures for others that extend Hilton’s hospitality beyond the doors of its hotels and into local communities. For instance, team members from the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C., surprised nonprofit organization DC Central Kitchen’s culinary students with new knife sets and food scales and in Houston, team members from Hilton Americas-Houston treated volunteers from disaster relief organization Team Rubicon during their work rebuilding homes in Houston damaged by Hurricane Harvey. The Hilton team transformed the volunteers’ meal site into an elegant, white linen dinner.
“Our first century of hospitality has been tremendously meaningful, but I truly believe that now is our time,” Nassetta said. “Hilton is as strong as it has ever been, and our potential to positively change the world grows with each hotel we open and every guest we serve.
“Our 100th year of hospitality is an opportunity to reflect on how far we’ve come and put a stake in the ground for our future. Conrad Hilton charted an ambitious course for Hilton in 1919, and I think he’d be proud of what we’ve accomplished so far. In my view, the world’s a better place because Hilton was born one hundred years ago, and if we do our job right, the world will be a better place because Hilton’s in it for the next one hundred years.”
