Cristiano Gonçalves will be responsible for leading a strategic expansion plan specific to South America while continuing to establish relationships with potential investors for new projects.
Reporting structure
Gonçalves now reports to Camilo Bolaños, Hyatt’s senior vice president, development, Latin America and the Caribbean.
The group currently has more than 80 hotels in operation across these regions.
Apposite experience
Gonçalves brings more than two decades of experience to Hyatt’s development team, most recently overseeing the direct execution of several high-profile management and franchise agreements for IHG Hotels & Resorts in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Prior to IHG, he served as Hilton Worldwide’s vice president of development, South America, where he created and executed an aggressive growth and development strategy and signed several new hotel agreements to expand the brand’s portfolio in key cities across South America.
Crucial role
Bolaños commented: “As we work to thoughtfully expand our Latin America and Caribbean portfolio, Cristiano will be critical to the expansion of our brand footprint in the region, while driving long-term value through meaningful growth worldwide.
“With Cristiano’s leadership, knowledge of the market and strong relationships, he will propel our growth strategy and emphasise the strength of our brands in competitive markets. We look forward to bringing new experiences to our guests, customers and World of Hyatt members, while providing new and existing ownership groups expanded opportunities to be part of Hyatt’s transformative growth with world-class brands.”
Most active pipeline
Boasting the most active Latin America and Caribbean pipeline ever, Hyatt has more than doubled the number of luxury rooms, tripled the number of resorts, and quadrupled the number of lifestyle rooms in the region over the last five years, and recently celebrated the openings of new hotels and resort destinations in key cities across the region.
Sites in the pipeline include Hyatt Place Georgetown Demerara, a 125-key site heading to Georgetown, Guyana, in Q4 this year; plus several further hotels due to arrive in Colombia in 2025: Hyatt Santa Marta, Hyatt Place Medellín and Hyatt Place Cali.
