Hilton is making great strides in growing its mid-market hotel presence across the Asia Pacific region. The company already has 483 Hilton Garden Inn and Hampton by Hilton branded hotels open in APAC, with a signed pipeline that will take it to more than 1,000 properties.
The company notes that more than 100 million Asians are joining the middle class each year, and their increased spending power is deployed on both domestic and international travel, among other things. Indeed, intra-regional travel is reckoned to account for around 60% of international tourism arrivals across the region.
Growing breadth of midmarket brands
In addition to Hampton by Hilton and Hilton Garden Inn, the group also has two more focused service brands, Try by Hilton and Spark by Hilton, both of which are also growing their presence around the world.
“The mid-market segment is a key growth driver and we’re looking to deliver everything our customers want where they want it,” said Jenny Milos, vice president and brand manager in the region for suites & focused service. “Our focused service brands provide innovative, affordable accommodations, in locations where our customers want to be.”
Taking account of changing customer requirements, Hilton has recently redesigned its Hilton Garden Inn room, with a new regional prototype. While already substantially present in country markets such as China, the aim for the next year is to take the brand into more countries in the region, with the expansion of franchising in India, China, Australia and Thailand.
Recent openings have included two hotels in Thailand, Hilton Garden Inn Bangkok Riverside, Hilton Garden Inn Rayong, and an additional Chinese hotel, Hilton Garden Inn Guilin Yangshuo.
The Hilton Garden Inn brand continues to see growth across the region, such as the Hilton Garden Inn Hoi An Tra Que Village in Vietnam and a new hotel at Nusa Dua in Bali. A further addition in Malaysia is the Hilton Garden Inn Kota Kinabalu Tuaran.
The Hampton by Hilton brand, meanwhile, continues its rapid expansion across China with openings in key gateway destinations. Another hotel opened recently in Beijing, at Beijing Zhongguancun Industrial Park, as well as Hampton by Hilton Tianjin Binhai Sanda Avenue and Hampton by Hilton Guangzhou Tianhe Smart City.
Adding luxury and extended stay
Hilton’s plans to meet the growing mid market sit alongside a broader push into the country, across many more of its brands. From the luxury brands, it is currently developing Conrad hotels in Haikou, Chengdu and Suzhou. The Waldorf-Astoria brand is coming to Suzhou, Shanghai and Xi’an, meanwhile.
Hilton is also working with local partner China Garden, to develop a chain of its Home2 Suites extended stay properties, with developments live in many Chinese cities including Jiaxing, Kunming, Shunqing and Guangdong.
