Hilton Worldwide travel tips

Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, January 17. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

On August 16, Marriott International opened its 9,000th property, with the debut of The St. Regis Longboat Key Resort in Florida. Meanwhile, Hilton Worldwide said Friday it had opened its 8,000th property.

Hilton Worldwide said Monday it’s set to double its current count of lifestyle hotels to 700 by 2028. It appointed Kevin Osterhaus as its new global lifestyle president to help oversee the effort.

For the upcoming summer, Hilton.com has released a list of the top destinations on travelers' minds according to what was searched the most online.

Hilton announced a new partnership with ResortPass to bring curated day pass packages to participating properties across the Americas.

Hilton announced a new partnership with outdoor hospitality company, AutoCamp, to offer their unique, nature-centric accommodations on Hilton’s direct booking channels, and Hilton Honors members a new way to earn and redeem their points. 

In 2023, Hilton opened 132 hotels with around 24,000 rooms between October and December 2023, the largest number of new rooms opened during any quarter in the hotel giant’s history, and it expects to continue that positive growth into 2024. 

Hotel companies have been launching new brands again. Hilton Worldwide said on Wednesday it had created its first hotel brand in the economy segment, Spark by Hilton. Accor, the owner of the world’s most hotel brands, said last week it had reorganized itself around its brands. Marriott International, Wyndham Worldwide, Hyatt, Kerzner, and Best Western have created or bought hotel brands in the past several months.

Choice Hotels International saw revenue spike in the fourth quarter of 2022 thanks to its August acquistion of the Radisson Hotel Group Americas for $675 million and its strengthened pricing power for room rates.

Hilton Worldwide said on Wednesday it was expanding its partnership with connected fitness-equipment maker Peloton to add its bikes to hotels in three new overseas markets: Germany, Britain, and “participating properties” in Canada.

Hilton Worldwide executives teased on Wednesday that they expect to announce a new apartment hotel brand within the next couple of months. The move will come as the operator continues to expand its portfolio beyond premium and luxury hotel brands, such as Waldorf Astoria and Conrad.