California-based Hilton Hotels Corporation has entered into a non-exclusive Strategic Development Agreement with the Abdulmohsen Al-Hokair Group for Tourism and Development, with the potential to deliver 13 Hilton Garden Inn properties (comprising 2,500 rooms).

These properties, which will be managed by Hilton, will be in key locations across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The first property is expected to open in 2009 in Riyadh.

This landmark agreement marks the entry of the first Hilton Garden Inn, the Hilton Family's focused service brand, in the Middle East and Africa region.

Over the next five years, Hilton and Al Hokair plan to introduce Hilton Garden Inn hotels across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Hilton Hotels Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the ownership, management, and development of hotels, resorts, and timeshare properties, as well as in franchising lodging properties in the United States and internationally.

The company is the leading global hospitality company, with more than 3,000 hotels and 500,000 rooms in more than 74 countries and territories, including 135,000 team members worldwide.