Hotel group Hilton continued to grow its development pipeline through the second quarter of 2024, as its existing portfolio delivered a revpar improvement of 3.5% overall.
Hotels in Greater China performed weakly, with revenues down year on year as Chinese travellers took more outbound journeys, without a matching growth in the number of visitors to China. And in the US, normalising markets saw leisure demand softer, though this was offset by strong group and business traveller demand.
Acquiring new brands
The group opened 165 hotels in the second quarter, adding a total of 22,400 rooms to the portfolio, though 4,400 rooms exited the Hilton system at the same time. CEO Chris Nassetta noted that the acquisition of the Graduate brand during the period added 32 hotels, with a further four in development.
In addition, Hilton is adding properties from the Small Luxury Hotels portfolio, with which it recently partnered. “We added nearly 300 boutique luxury properties to our system in July, with an additional 100 properties expected to join later this year.” The company has also partnered with outdoor accommodation business AutoCamp, adding the option of more remote stays for Hilton Honors members.
Hilton signed 62,700 rooms to its development pipeline during the second quarter, taking the total pipeline to a substantial 508,300 rooms, a figure that grew 15% year on year. These 3,870 properties are located in 136 countries. On the list are hotels in 39 countries where Hilton currently has no market presence; close to 60% of those pipeline properties are outside the USA.
While financing remains tough for those looking to develop hotels, the big brand groups switch their attention to attracting existing hotels in the market to their distribution systems. Hilton now expects up to half of its signings during 2024 will be conversion properties.Spark, the group’s latest brand launch and one designed purely for conversions of existing hotels, saw 27 openings in the reporting period, including the first Spark in the UK. Further openings includ the first Spark in mainland Europe, Spark by Hilton Stuttgart Sindelfingen.
Nassetta also noted the “continued momentum with Curio, Tapestry and DoubleTree,” in driving hotel conversions. He said around half of the pipeline is under construction, “and we continue to have more rooms under construction than any other hotel company.”
Upgrades for Waldorf Astoria
One of Hilton’s luxury brands, Waldorf Astoria, has seen several of its hotels undergo change, as the brand portfolio has been realigned. These include the Waldorf Astoria in Edinburgh, which is being rebranded instead as a Curio Collection hotel. And in New York, the Waldorf Astoria will relaunch in late 2024, following major construction works. The property closed in 2017 and has been downsized, with the upper floors of the block converted to apartments.
The brand continues to expand with new properties. Construction is under way on new Waldorf Astoria hotels around the world, including Jakarta, Osaka and Tangier.
