Riding the hotel wave on the cusp of change

Martin Rinck, Asia Pacific president of Hilton Worldwide, said Nassetta has identified four strategic priorities for Hilton. These include aligning the culture and organization, maximizing performance, strengthening brand and commercial services, and further expanding its global footprint.

"Nassetta has created a senior leadership team in Hilton to undertake these tasks. His passion for excellence and his incredibly engaging personality have helped transform the company from a sleeping giant to a high-performance powerhouse," Rinck said.

Consequent to the listing, some industry sources had expressed curiosity about Nassetta's next career target. "There is no next target", as there are still many things that can be done in Hilton Worldwide, Nassetta said, adding that China is still an important market where Hilton has much to do.

"We were inactive in the Chinese market during the first 10 years of the 21st century," he said.

Intercontinental Hotels Group headquartered in the UK had nearly 200 hotels in China by February 2014. Marriott International Inc had 67 hotels in China by April 2014 and plans to enlarge the number to over 100 in the next two years.

Most of the hotel chains are betting big on growth in China due to the huge tourism potential and tourist numbers.

China Tourism Academy estimates that domestic tourism revenue will hit 3.1 trillion yuan ($502 billion) this year and the number of outbound tourists will exceed 100 million person-trips.

Hilton is aware of the potential and will take adequate steps to enhance its presence, Nassetta said, adding that he makes at least three to four trips to China every year. "I spend as much time as I can in China to help the growth (of our hotels)," he said.

China ranks among the top four global markets for Hilton Worldwide currently. "It will be among our top two markets in the next five years," said Nassetta. "Though China's contribution to the Hilton global turnover is small, its growth has been fast."

Hilton is not only targeting the home market in China, but also the rising outbound tourists.

"We do not just serve the demand here, but also serve Chinese customers all over the world," Nassetta said, adding that the group had more than 687,000 rooms in 93 countries and territories as of June 30, 2014.

He said Hilton's main priority in China would be to expand the business and boost brand awareness. "These measures will help Chinese customers to automatically choose our hotels when they go abroad," he said.