CORAL GABLES, Florida — Hilton is coming off a strong year of growth in the Caribbean and Latin America region, much of which is resulting in expansion to new markets.
In 2023, Hilton opened 19 new hotels in the Caribbean and Latin America region, which is the most rooms added in the region in a single year ever, said Pablo Maturana, Hilton's vice president of development for the Caribbean and Latin America.
During an interview with Hotel News Now at the recent Caribbean Hotel & Resort Investment Summit, Maturana said over the past decade the company has tripled its presence in the region.
Today, the region represents about 10% of Hilton's portfolio outside of the U.S.
"It's a region that's been growing ... when we look moving forward, we come from a year where we opened 19 hotels. It was a record year in terms of net unit growth for us — mainly driven by the more than 4,000 rooms we opened, which is a record year for us. Not only that, we approved over the length of [2023] 35 new projects, including some in the year for the year," he said.
Hilton now has a pipeline of more than 110 properties in the Caribbean and Latin America that are under design and construction already. The company has also entered new markets by debuting brands such as Tru in Brazil and Mexico and Motto in Peru.
A big component of the growth in new markets is having in-market experts to identify and materialize opportunities, Maturana said.
Recent openings since the start of 2024 include the Motto by Hilton Cusco, a DoubleTree in Buenos Aires and the Hilton Garden Inn Guadalajara Airport in Mexico.
Approved projects include an upcoming conversion of Palacio Provincial Hotel to a Curio Collection and a new Canopy in Guadalajara.
A total of 17 properties will open throughout the remainder of 2024, including the Waldorf Astoria Costa Rica and a Tru by Hilton in Colombia and Chile, Maturana said.
Not only has Hilton's focused-service, full-service, premium and lifestyle hotels led the company's unit growth, the all-inclusive segment has also been a catalyst. In 2023, Hilton signed and approved three all-inclusive hotels. Two of them already opened in 2023 and one is to come this year.
Additionally, conversions represent roughly 40% of Hilton's growth in 2023. New-builds have also been part of the strategy; an example of that is its new Embassy Suites in Aruba as well as the Waldorf Astoria Costa Rica.
"In general, we're seeing demand for potential investment opportunities across the entire portfolio," Maturana said.
Hilton President and CEO Chris Nassetta said on Hilton's fourth-quarter and full-year 2023 earnings call that luxury growth is a priority for the company in 2024. Its partnership with Small Luxury Hotels will help drive that goal by growing its current luxury hotel portfolio of about 160 hotels into 600 to 700 hotels "scattered in all the best, unique and hard-to-duplicate places around the world."
When it comes to development challenges, Maturana said first and foremost it's about understanding just how different the region is.
In some markets, obtaining debt is a challenge but at the same time the market could be maturing at enough of a pace where Hilton can "overcome certain circumstances. It's just a matter of understanding where you are. Some markets we operate where there's no debt available. That is just the norm," he said.
"We focus on what we can control, but the important thing about it is this is not a hotel that you develop for today or tomorrow. It's a hotel that you look at it holistically with a long-term or medium-term view," Maturana added. "Tailwind or headwind, it doesn't matter, we constantly focus on making sure that we bring the right brand at the right time in the right location with the right partner."
Editor’s note: Chris Nassetta serves on the board of directors for Hotel News Now’s parent company, CoStar Group.