Hilton Worldwide celebrates Global Week of Service

Hilton Worldwide properties in the UAE celebrated the group’s Global Week of Service with clean-up activities and other CSR efforts around the country.

The operator's properties in Ras Al Khaimah celebrated the annual event by participating in a sea and beach clean-up effort on October 20.

More than 100 volunteers from the hotel group’s Ras Al Khaimah properties, as well as 40 residents from the emirate, participated in the event to clean beaches, including 40 divers, who cleaned the ocean floor off the coast of Ras Al Khaimah.

More than 100 kilogrammes of trash was collected from 2 kilometres of the seabed during the two-hour underwater clean-up effort. On land, the volunteers cleared 235 kilogrammes of trash from a one-kilometre stretch of Marjan Island Beach.

Speaking at the event, Hilton Worldwide president Middle East & Africa Rudi Jagersbacher said: “Across our 69 hotels in the Middle East and Africa, we place great importance on ensuring sustainability is at the core of what we do to deliver real benefits to the communities in which we live, work and travel.

"From our work with Ana Al Masry in Cairo; to blood donations in KSA and supporting local schools in South Africa – we are celebrating this commitment and I commend our teams for their hard work for Global Week of Service 2014."

In Dubai, Hilton Worlwide team members visited the Dubai National School in Al Garhoud for a third year to refurbish the IT lab, providing new furniture and donating equipment.

Teams from Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm Jumeirah, DoubleTree by Hilton Dubai Jumeirah, Hilton Dubai Jumeirah, Hilton Abu Dhabi, and Hilton Fujairah visited local beaches and dived underwater to participate in the nationwide effort.

Hilton Worldwide vice president of operations, Arabian Peninsula Christian Grage, who was also present at the clean-up event in Ras Al Khaimah, added: “Global Week of Service is a fantastic opportunity for us to join together to make a real difference in our local communities, and this year, we hope to make a big splash in the Arabian Peninsula.

"To see local residents and our team members actively take part in our efforts is inspiring, as we seek to empower visitors to Travel with Purpose – our global commitment to provide shared value to our business, the environment, and communities around the world.”