Dive Brief:
- Hyatt Hotels posted system-wide rooms growth of 7.8% year over year for the full-year 2024, in addition to 9% year-over-year pipeline expansion, according to a Thursday earnings report.
- In the fourth quarter alone, Hyatt added 81 hotels, or 20,721 rooms, to its portfolio. And as of year-end, the hotel company had a pipeline of executed management or franchise contracts for approximately 720 hotels, representing a record 138,000 rooms, according to CEO Mark Hoplamazian.
- Hyatt’s portfolio and pipeline growth was bolstered by several brand acquisitions throughout the year, including its purchase of lifestyle operator Standard International. Systemwide, Hyatt reported year-over-year RevPAR growth of 4.6% in 2024, driven by the continued resurgence of business transient demand, per the report.
Dive Insight:
Hyatt’s portfolio additions in the fourth quarter of 2024 included the 22 open hotels it acquired through the Standard International deal, the company detailed in the earnings report. The acquisition aligns with Hyatt’s asset-light business strategy, which it remains committed to, Hoplamazian said during a Thursday earnings call.
Hyatt also opened several notable hotels in the fourth quarter, including Grand Hyatt Deer Valley in Park City, Utah; Thompson Palm Springs in Palm Springs, California; and other international properties.
Hyatt’s rooms growth has continued into 2025, with the company opening 9,000 rooms already this year, including some 7,000 rooms at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas, Hoplamazian shared during the call. In December, Hyatt entered a long-term licensing agreement to make the luxury Las Vegas property bookable through Hyatt channels.
Hyatt is actively expanding in the luxury and lifestyle segment, as well as the all-inclusive sector. Earlier this week, Hyatt announced it will acquire Playa Hotels & Resorts N.V., an all-inclusive resorts owner and operator in Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica.
Systemwide, Hyatt saw year-over-year hotel RevPAR growth of 5% in the fourth quarter, according to the report.
The results reflected strong business and leisure transient travel, though group demand during the fourth quarter was impacted by the shift of the Jewish holidays and the U.S. election in November, per the report. In the U.S., specifically, performance was driven by continued recovery in business transient travel, according to Hyatt.
“Business transient customers remained our strongest growth segment, delivering revenue growth of 10% in the quarter,” Hoplamazian said on the call. “We continue to see our large corporate customers back on the road, and we experienced an increase in both demand and average rate in the quarter.”
Business transient revenue was up 12% for the year, benefitting major urban markets in the U.S., including New York, Washington, D.C., and Seattle, Hoplamazian added.
