As demand for hotels continued to recover from the worst crisis the industry has ever faced, hotel brand executives took advantage of rising performance and revenues to launch and buy brands to boost their portfolios in 2022.

Here's a look at the brand launches and major deals that made news this year.

In one of the largest deals of the year, Choice Hotels International announced in June plans to buy Radisson Hotel Group Americas — including 624 hotels with a total room count exceeding 68,000 — for $675 million. The cash deal included franchise agreements, operations and intellectual property for Radisson's brands, including Country Inn & Suites, Radisson, Radisson Blu and Park Inn.

At the time the acquisition was announced, analysts who cover the hotel industry praised the move, which grows Choice's footprint in the upscale and upper-midscale hotel segments, especially in Europe and in the U.S. on the West Coast and in the Midwest.

Michael Bellisario, senior research analyst at Baird, said Choice's acquisition of Radisson indicated a thoughtful growth strategy.

"When you think about hotel brands and you look at [mergers and acquisitions] in the past, size and scale and distribution are what matters, and this is additive from Choice’s perspective to get that,” he said.

The news of the acquisition came just a few months after Radisson Hotel Group Americas unveiled upper-midscale, limited-service brand Radisson Inn & Suites in March. The new brand will primarily grow via conversions in airport locations, metro areas and as part of mixed-use developments in the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean and Latin America. Radisson executives said Radisson Inn & Suites is like a sister to the company's Country Inn & Suites brand.

As one of the quickest segments to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, the extended-stay hotel space gained some new brand players in 2022.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts first teased its new economy extended-stay brand in March, which the company called "Project ECHO." Wyndham officials said the brand had been in development since the summer of 2021.

Although Project ECHO went nameless for several months, the brand racked up 100 signings by September, and Wyndham officially introduced the hotel industry to Echo Suites Extended Stay by Wyndham on Nov. 1.

"Demand for these accommodations only continues to climb — both from guests and developers alike — making now the right time for Wyndham, the definitive leader in the economy segment, to bring our experience and expertise to this high-potential space," Wyndham President and CEO Geoff Ballotti said at the time of the launch.

In September, Extended Stay America launched Extended Stay America Select Suites, the company's third brand. The launch of Select Suites followed the debut of ESA's second brand, Extended Stay America Premier Suites, in February 2021.

At the time of Select Suites' launch, Extended Stay America President and CEO Greg Juceam said the segment has plenty of room for hotel products at different rates.

"We've come to realize that extended stay is actually comprised of many different types of customers and many different types of price points," he said. "And through these decades [as a single-brand company] we've been missing out on that stratification opportunity," Juceam said.

Room for multiple price points in the extended-stay segment also encouraged BWH Hotel Group — the parent company of Best Western Hotels & Resorts, WorldHotels Collection and SureStay Hotel Group — to unveil Home by BWH, its new midscale extended-stay brand at the end of October.

Considering the relatively high performance of the extended-stay segment, capitalizing on that with a new brand made sense, said Brad LeBlanc, BWH's senior vice president and chief development officer.

"The extended-stay segment has been outperforming the industry, is driving 25% higher revenue than in 2019, and it is showing no signs of slowing down,” LeBlanc said.

In November, Marriott International launched Apartments by Marriott Bonvoy, its expansion into upper-upscale and luxury serviced apartments.

Locations will be in the U.S. and Canada, and Marriott President Stephanie Linnartz said in the news release that Apartments by Marriott Bonvoy differ from the company's more traditional extended-stay brands because they won't have food and beverage, meeting spaces or retail.

At the higher end of hotel segments, boutique and luxury brands shifted the landscape with two major deals in the fourth quarter of 2022.

In November, Hyatt Hotels Corp. announced plans to acquire Dream Hotel Group's brand and management platform. Hyatt will pay $125 million for Dream's brand and management business — including a portfolio of 12 hotels affiliated with three of Dream's brands. Another $175 million is contingent upon 24 hotels in development being signed to long-term management contracts.

Hyatt President and CEO Mark Hoplamazian said the deal with Dream is similar to Hyatt's 2018 acquisition of Two Roads Hospitality and its boutique portfolio. He added Hyatt executives are "carefully working toward the best way to bring Dream Hotel Group’s vibrant lifestyle brands into the Hyatt portfolio, preserving what is special about them and adding Hyatt’s capabilities ... and accelerating growth of the brands into the future."

On Dec. 15, New York-based hotel owner and management company Highgate announced it plans to acquire luxury brand Viceroy Hotels & Resorts for an undisclosed sum. Viceroy has three sub-brands: the Icon Collection, Lifestyle Series and Urban Retreats.

Los Angeles-based Viceroy has 11 open hotels — mostly in the U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean — and two properties in the pipeline. The brand recently opened its debut hotel in Europe, the Viceroy Kopaonik Serbia.

Outside the U.S., several global hotel companies made deals to acquire brands that were already well-established in international markets, or they formed development partnerships to launch new branded products.

In September, Wyndham acquired Vienna House from Berlin-based hotel operator HR Group for $44 million. The agreement added about 40 hotels in Europe — with more than 6,000 upscale and midscale rooms — to Wyndham's global portfolio.

Dimitris Manikis, Wyndham's president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said the company will work to keep Vienna House's "brand DNA intact," which he described as "traditional European hospitality."

That same month, Hyatt unveiled Atona, a brand borne out of a joint-venture partnership with Japanese hotel operator Kiraku. Atona properties will feature ryokan-style hotels, which are hotels built around onsens, or hot springs.

“The ryokan sector is an incredibly difficult niche for an international chain to go into,” said Kou Sundberg, president and CEO of Kiraku. “But with Hyatt, we believe that this Atona brand could attract guests who want to try Japanese ryokans and cultural experiences."

Earlier in the year, Hyatt also introduced its Inclusive Collection, with nine all-inclusive resort brands. The collection includes Hyatt Ziva, Hyatt Zilara resorts, Zoëtry Wellness & Spa Resorts, Secrets Resorts & Spas, Breathless Resorts & Spas, Dreams Resorts & Spas, Alua Hotels & Resorts, Sunscape Resorts & Spas and Vivid Hotels & Resorts, which is coming soon.

Marriott International, among the largest global hotel brand companies, greatly increased its brand footprint in Latin America this year. In October, Marriott announced an agreement with Mexico-based Hoteles City Express to acquire the City Express brand portfolio for $100 million.

At the time of the deal, Hoteles City Express' portfolio included 152 midscale hotels with 17,356 rooms in 75 cities in Mexico and three other Latin American countries. Its brands include City Express, City Express Plus, City Express Suites, City Express Junior and City Centro.

Marriott CEO Tony Capuano said the deal was a "strategic win" for Marriott.

"We're excited to enter a new lodging category — the popular affordable midscale segment where we see significant potential," Capuano said. "With City Express by Marriott, we will be providing our customers with more choice through a new, approachable, moderate-priced offering, increasing opportunity for owners and franchisees as well as associates."

England-based IHG Hotels & Resorts struck a deal with Spain-based Iberostar Hotels & Resorts in November, adding 70 hotels and 24,300 rooms from Iberostar's portfolio to IHG's loyalty program. The properties will be marketed on IHG Rewards as Iberostar Beachfront Resorts, and while none of the hotels are changing ownership, the move marks IHG's push to add more all-inclusive resorts to its platform.

Germany-based hotel operator Primestar Group announced June Six and June Stay brands in May. June Six is a boutique hotel brand while June Stay is an extended-stay brand.

In an interview with Hotel News Now's Sean McCracken at the International Hotel Investment Forum, Primestar managing director Andreas Erben said Primestar will grow both brands via partnerships with Wyndham, IHG and Hilton.

Last but not least, Meliá Hotels International and tennis star Rafael Nadal unveiled a new hotel brand called Zel. The brand, announced in mid December, is set to debut in Mallorca next year.

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