But these are tough times for his group.

David Michels: "I love the industry"

The leisure industry, already under pressure from economic uncertainty, has seen business slow dramatically following the attack on the US.

Since the terrorist action the Hilton Group has experienced a 15% drop in hotel visitors in London and 10% on the continent.

David admits that there have been days in the past two weeks when his hotels have had more cancellations than bookings.

Waiting out the storm

But he still hopes the group can get through the downturn without major cutbacks.

David says: "If it lasts three or four months, financially we are more than capable of weathering that particular storm.

"Our cashflow is good enough, our gearing is good enough, our interest cover is good enough. But we will lose business and we will lose profit."

Taking a punt

As for the betting industry, it tends to do well in times of crisis.

But the Hilton gambling business, represented on the High Street by the Ladbrokes betting chain, is facing a crisis of its own.

The rights to broadcast British horseracing are up for renewal and David says he is not willing to pay the current asking price.

He says: "If British horseracing sticks to the absurd quadrupling of the current money we have to pay, then we would have no choice and I believe some of our competitors would be in a similar situation."

David believes there is a probability of some sort of compromise being reached but admits there is no guarantee.

If Ladbrokes is forced to give up the rights to British horseracing he believes the company can absorb the losses and increase revenues by increasing coverage of other events.

Share price

Since hitting a two-year low of 160.25p in February 2000, Hilton Group shares have proved a volatile holding.

Hilton shares fell 30% following the terrorist attacks in the US

The shares hit a high of just over 300p in March 2000, fell to about 190p by October, then rebounded to about 250p earlier this month.

With the attacks on America the value of Hilton shares fell back to about 170p, down 30%.

David admits that move is worrying but says the fall was not unusual given the overall effect of the tragedy on the markets.

To watch this interview in full click on the video link in the top right corner of this story.