CARTAGENA, Columbia, and MEXICO CITY — Consistency is the key word for Hilton’s hotel development plans in Latin America, which means laying down a solid base of hotels across segments to continue to meet owner demands while growing loyalty from travelers.
Juan Corvinos, Hilton's senior vice president of development and A&C for Latin America and the Caribbean, said the Hilton Honors program has “a lot of opportunity” still to grow beyond its 2.8 million members in the region, and loyalty gains traction when travelers have many levels of brands to choose from.
“You have to establish focused-service brands, and you also have to have aspirational brands, like resorts and all-inclusives,” he said. “And local business is what’s super important when getting that foothold in Latin America.”
Hilton’s latest new brand, the economy segment Spark by Hilton first announced in February, will make its way to Latin America, Corvinos said, “but we have to figure out the comp set, because room sizes are different in Latin America. Furniture, fixtures and equipment package sourcing and standardizing it will take a little while here.”
Spark, Tempo by Hilton and Home2 Suites are the only Hilton brands not in the company’s Caribbean and Latin America region, but Corvinos said Tempo and Home2 are both on their way.
Demand for extended stays is spurring that development, particularly in manufacturing centers like Brazil and Mexico.
“We see it even in Colombia and Chile, because people used to come in on Monday and out on Thursday, but now because of the price of airfare, people are extending those trips to two-week, three-week trips,” he said. “So we’re seeing more demand for long-term accommodation."
Openings and Pipeline
Hilton currently has approximately 205 hotels and 37,000 rooms open in the CALA region and about 105 hotels in its development pipeline.
In addition to Hilton Monterrey in Mexico (see more below), recent openings across the region include the Qoya Hotel Sao Paulo, a Curio Collection by Hilton hotel and the Hampton by Hilton Quito La Carolina Park in Ecuador. In late 2022, the company signed a Waldorf Astoria in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and one in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, both with branded residences and both slated for 2025 openings.
“Each hotel that opens expands our halo,” Corvinos said. “They’re all the right product, in the right location with the right owner.”
He estimates about 100 additional Hiltons will open in the region over the next five years.
Conversions represent opportunity now and in the future, he said, particularly those at the upper-upscale level that offer consistency. For Hilton, that means Tapestry, Curio, LXR and DoubleTree in particular.
Strong Developer Interest For Mexico
Mario Carbone, managing director of development in Mexico and Central America for Hilton, said developer interest has been strong across segments from limited-service urban hotels through full-service hotels.
At the end of March, the 225-room new-build Hilton Monterrey opened in the capital of the state of Nuevo León, Mexico.
The company has also seen significant growth in the all-inclusive segment in Mexico, he said.
Carbone said the company has been able to achieve impressive growth in that segment primarily by leveraging existing brands rather than launching new brands to focus on all-inclusive demand.
“We’re looking to leverage the top-of-mind of the traditional Hilton brand because everyone knows Hilton,” he said. “That allows us to use those traditional brands to go out into the all-inclusive segment, obviously tailoring the brands to fit and exceed the needs of that sector’s guests.”
The country has recently seen some of Hilton’s newer brands make their first foray into Mexico, with a Tru by Hilton opening in Monterrey.
“All of the segments are firing in Mexico, which is impressive,” he said.
Carbone said the outlook for business travel, the slowest segment to return after the pandemic-induced downturn, is particularly strong in Mexico, fueled by a rebound in travel by small and medium-sized businesses and a wave of new industrial and manufacturing activity across the country. He said that translates to interest in the company’s limited-service brands. A big driver of that growth has been American companies reorienting their supply chain, moving manufacturing from Asian countries to Mexico.
“I think that in-shoring is a big component of this growth and the future growth in Mexico,” he said.