Dive Brief:
- Hilton is expanding several of its brands into Canada, in particular its lifestyle hotels and newly launched Spark by Hilton conversion brand, the company announced.
- The first Canopy by Hilton opened in Canada last year, and Spark and Motto will enter the market in 2024. Hilton signed nearly 20 deals in Canada in 2023, and its pipeline in the country has approximately 90 hotels, the company shared.
- The Canada growth marks the first time for the Spark by Hilton brand to leave the U.S., as conversions drive portfolio growth for Hilton.
Dive Insight:
Following sister lifestyle brand Canopy by Hilton opening in Toronto in 2023, Motto by Hilton will open its first Canadian hotel in downtown Montreal this year. Hilton has signed five deals for the brand across Canada. Meanwhile the company’s lifestyle collection, Curio Collection, will open its second property in the country in Toronto in 2024.
Motto by Hilton hotels offer flexible room layouts in urban centers. It is one of three non-collection lifestyle brands developed by Hilton, which also include Canopy and Tempo by Hilton. In Canada, Hilton plans to triple its presence in the lifestyle category within the next five years with hotels planned in Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Niagara Falls and more, the company said.
In 2022, the company projected that its global lifestyle pipeline would more than double by 2032 — and recent acquisitions of lifestyle brands Graduate Hotels and NoMad make progress toward that goal.
Spark by Hilton, which launched in January 2023, will open four Canadian properties in 2024. The midscale conversion chain taps owner demand for the more cost-efficient conversion model, which was at a record high in 2023 amid heightened construction costs. On the corporate side, conversions have become a popular way for brands to fuel their net unit growth, which accounts for half of shareholder value, according to JLL.
Similarly, IHG Hotels & Resorts announced plans to make its young conversion brand available outside of the U.S. last month. IHG Hotels & Resorts launched the brand, Garner, in August.
The last quarter of 2023 was Hilton’s largest ever for openings based on rooms, CEO Chris Nassetta shared in a February earnings call. Conversions accounted for 30% of Hilton’s openings in the quarter.
In Hilton’s fourth-quarter earnings call, CFO Kevin Jacobs said he expected that conversions would take up a greater share of the company’s development pipeline in 2024.
