İstanbul, 31 March 2008 - Hilton Family Hotels in Turkey took a leading step in the sector by taking a part in the global Earth Hour initiative, supported by millions of people around the world.

This year the global Earth Hour initiative saw the largest voluntary power shutdown in history with communities over 14 time zones participating. Devised by WWF and created to take a stand against the greatest threat our planet has ever faced, Earth Hour uses the simple action of turning off lights for one hour to deliver a powerful message about the need for action on global warming.
As part of their participation in this initiative, all guests staying in the Hilton Family Hotels including the Hilton Hotels in Turkey were informed about the importance of the night of March 29. Guests were also asked to support Hilton's participation in this action by turning off their room lights. In the morning of March 29th, an explanation letter was placed in the guest rooms. Guests were reminded about the Earth Hour through the signs positioned both at the reception area and outside the guest lifts. Lights on the guest corridors, lobby and offices were turned to minimal lighting in order to maintain safety and to continue business.

Additionally, in all of hotel restaurants candle light dinner was served and some special events, like "Earth Hour Cocktail" were carried out. In addition, Hilton Family Hotels in Turkey ran some special activities in order to raise awareness and consciousness on the issue. Hilton İstanbul, Conrad İstanbul and Hilton ParkSA switched off the external lights of their buildings while Ankara HiltonSA extended the energy saving precautions over the weekend. Hilton İzmir, Hilton Kayseri, Adana HiltonSA and Mersin HiltonSA hotels also supported this initiative with the guests through several activities arranged within the hotel.   

Hilton Hotels; being one of the participants of the project supported by millions of people and several big cities around the world; works to raise environmental awareness through its we care! programme ran globally.

President Hilton Hotels - Europe; Wolfgang M. Neumann
"In supporting Earth Hour by simply turning out our lights and switching on our support, we can help make a difference in the most significant challenge facing the world today. It is clear that current debate about climate change has highlighted the need for action from all of us. As more and more people look to book according to their conscience and beliefs, it is inevitable that hoteliers will need to demonstrate and communicate their commitment to saving the environment. Our we care!programme combined with our support for Earth Hour is one step further on the way to becoming a more responsible corporation. At Hilton we all care about the environment and are genuinely committed to making a difference."

Notes to Editors

About Earth Hour
For further information on Earth Hour please visit www.earthhour.org

About we care!
Launched in January 2006, Hilton's we care! campaign empowers team members to create change in their work environment and also at home, focussing on four key environmental issues - energy efficiency, water efficiency, waste reduction, and pollution minimisation. The purpose of this initiative is to create a culture change that enables team members to identify improvements and then implement them. we care! also actively encourages Hilton's suppliers to improve their environmental responsibility, sharing best practices and supporting environmental initiatives in the local communities. 

The overall goal of we care! is to reduce energy consumption by 15% and water consumption by 10% by 2009 (based on values compared to 2005 as the base year). To date over 16,000 Hilton team members have participated in we care! workshops, with 6,000 team members (in 54 countries) completing on-line eco-learning courses.  For more information visit www.hilton.com and www.hiltonwecare.com

About Hilton Hotels Corporation
Hilton Hotels Corporation is the leading global hospitality company, with more than 3,000 hotels and 500,000 rooms in 80 countries and territories, including 100,000 team members worldwide. The company owns, manages or franchises a hotel portfolio of some of the best known and highly regarded brands, including Hiltonâ, Conradâ Hotels & Resorts, Doubletreeâ, Embassy Suites Hotelsâ, Hampton Innâ, Hampton Inn & Suitesâ, Hilton Garden Innâ, Hilton Grand Vacationsâ, Homewood Suites by Hiltonâ and The Waldorf=Astoria Collectionâ. 

The Hilton Family of Hotels adheres to founder Conrad Hilton's philosophy that, "It has been, and continues to be, our responsibility to fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality."  The company put a name to its unique brand of service that has made it the best known and most highly regarded hotel company:  be hospitable®.    The philosophy is shared by all nine brands in the Hilton Family of Hotels, and is the inspiration for its overarching message of kindness and generosity.

For more information about the company, please visit www.hiltonworldwide.com , and to learn more about its be hospitable philosophy, please visit www.behospitable.com .

Daha Fazla Bilgi İçin: Didem Sökmen Effect Halkla İlişkiler didemsokmen@effect.com.tr 0216 474 00 04 0533 423 83 55