Is Hilton within striking distance of dethroning Marriott as the world’s largest hotel company?
24.04.2024 - 21:41
/ thepointsguy.com
/ Christopher Nassetta
Marriott International, with more than 30 brands under its belt, is the undisputed leader in the world's hotel orbit.
However, Hilton leaders Wednesday morning outlined a growth strategy signaling why their cross-town rival in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area shouldn't get too complacent in its lofty perch.
The hotel giant behind brands like Waldorf Astoria, Conrad and Home2 Suites has an array of new brands and partnerships that should add thousands of new hotels and Hilton Honors loyalty program engagement in the years to come. Hilton's development pipeline of 472,000 hotel rooms worldwide is still well shy of Marriott's 573,000-room pipeline reported at the end of last year, but Hilton leaders still have bragging rights.
"Approximately half of our pipeline is under construction, and we continue to have more rooms under construction than any other hotel company, accounting for more than 20% of industry share and nearly four times our share of existing supply," Hilton CEO Christopher Nassetta said on a company earnings call Wednesday.
In just the last few months, Hilton acquired two brands and formed two new partnerships that provide Hilton Honors members with new ways to earn and redeem points.
Hilton's acquisition of Graduate Hotels, a brand focused on college and university settings, gives the portfolio a special lifestyle option that Nassetta said on Wednesday could eventually see as many as 500 hotels worldwide. Currently, the brand has a little more than 30.
"Graduate presents a unique opportunity to serve more guests, especially in markets where we're not present today," Nassetta said.
The company also acquired a controlling stake in Sydell Group, the parent company of NoMad Hotels, earlier this month to beef up its presence in the luxury lifestyle hotel space — occupied by brands like Marriott's Edition and Hyatt's Thompson Hotels — by 100 hotels. The acquisition spree is a departure from Hilton's "build it, don't buy it" ethos of launching new brands organically instead of acquiring them.
Both deals are a case of Hilton getting in relatively early before significant global expansion. NoMad only has hotels in London and Las Vegas, but the Sin City property isn't included in the deal and will eventually change brand affiliation.
"The ethos of what [Sydell Group founder and CEO] Andrew Zobler and his team have created is a sort of bullseye for what we think is modern luxury lifestyle today and going forward in terms of what customers are looking for," Nassetta said of NoMad. "It hit every button for us in terms of making sense, but yes, it's very small. The good news is it's very small, we didn't pay a whole lot for it, and that means great organic growth going forward."
It's not just