Hilton Worldwide, which operates famous hotels such as Conrad and DoubleTree in Turkey, is introducing another brand into the country. The U.S. hotel chain will open its youngest brand, Curio, in the historical Rumeli Han located on İstiklal Avenue in Beyoğlu. Hilton Worldwide marketing and public relations manager for Turkey, Burcu Yatmazoğlu, said the 170-room hotel will begin operating in 2017. "There are 12 Curio hotels in the world right now. The centuries-old Rumeli Han will be renovated," Yatmazoğlu said, adding that Hilton was looking for other hotels that are still active to establish new Curio hotels around Turkey. She said: "Hilton Worldwide is a hotel group that has the highest number of rooms under construction in the world, and Turkey is in the front row in terms of capacity. There is a planned investment of more 34 hotels in Turkey in addition to the current 34 hotels operating right now in the country. However, sometimes we venture outside of our plans and can open more hotels when new brands are created. This is applicable to Curio, for instance."
Celebrating its 60th anniversary in Turkey, Hilton Turkey is exporting its experience to neighboring countries as well. Having made its latest investment in Georgia, Hilton opened the fourth 5-star hotel in Batumi. Hilton Turkey is also promoting the hotel, which was built in the jail where Georgian-origin Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin had stayed. Moreover, the hotel has importance for Turkey in terms of touristic mobility and investment. The Tourism Bridge between Artvin and Batumi, which came first in Europe and third in the world on the list of the most preferred 100 tourist destinations prepared by Euromonitor, is the most significant key of Hilton's growth strategy. Batumi sees 4.5 million tourists per year and 3.5 million of them are from Turkey, Hilton Batumi's general manager said, adding that this figure would increase with visa-free travel to Georgia. Turkey came third on the list of countries investing in Georgia. Turkey opened production facilities in Georgia valued at $525 million over the past five years.
