Be My Guest [antikvár]

¦ I it ' ! ! i , , . 1; FOREWORD By Barron Hilton Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Hilton Hotels Corporation 1.1 ' ' 1 ; l' M ' ' ! ¦ 1 ^ ^ , ' il h ! ''i I 1 ! 1 . 1 .Ii ri:! 1 11 ,1 ' ; 1 li.in'i 'i '¦'.rl; 11' 1 ' 1 1 < ' •. 1 1;;;; ',1 111 1.1,1 ll' ¦ 11 1 ! .' 1 11.' 1 j 111 ¦ J i -1 H> When my father, Conrad Hilton, wrote Be My Guest in 1957, he did more than simply recount his own story and that of the company he founded. He sent a message to all who stayed in our hotels and leafed through the book—a message of hope, confidence, belief in oneself and one's ideals. Long before the positive-thinking trend entered the mainstream of American consciousness, my father was a zealous subscriber to its benefits. Even today, almost forty years later, as I reread passages of Be My Guest, I am struck by the relevance and power of much of this book. Perhaps the two messages that have meant the most to me as I ascended the ranks of Hilton Hotels Corporation are: "Think Big . . . Act Big . . . Dream Big" and "Be Honest." I am proud to say that in the years since the book's publication, and then since my father's death in 1979, we at Hilton have stayed true to both of these philosophies as our company has grown in size, diversity, and stature. By thinking big, we have been able to develop new businesses, enter new markets, provide new services, and open new hotels. By being honest, we have been able to achieve among our guests, customers, business partners, and employees a reputation for integrity and quality that we believe is unmatched in the hospitality industry. A study by a renowned consulting firm showed that Hilton was the world's twelfth most esteemed brand name, and the most respected name in the lodging business. This is testimony to my father's vision and to his commitments to dealing honestly with people, and to thinking and dreaming big. While many of the basic tenets of Conrad Hilton remain constant sources of our company's success, there have been some exciting changes in the thirty-eight years since Be My Guest rolled off the presses—changes in the hotel business in general, and at Hilton Hotels Corporation in particular. In the hotel industry of the fifties, computer-linked worldwide reservation systems; technology-driven check-in and check-out; all-suite, extended-stay hotels; and global air travel with three-hour flights from New York to London were notions as far out