Hyatt Hotels Corp . CEO Mark Hoplamazian said during his company ’ s third-quarter earnings call that leisure transient revenue decreased approximately 4 % in the quarter driven by the U . S . and Greater China and that through the first nine months of 2024 revenue is flat compared to 2023 . Despite the throttle down in the leisure pace , group pace continues to bulk up . In the first quarter of 2025 , group rooms revenue increased approximately 6 % in the quarter with strong results in both the U . S . and Europe . Group pace for U . S . full-service managed properties is up over 5 % in the fourth quarter , excluding the timing shift of the Jewish holidays in October and the U . S . election next week . Further out , Hyatt said 2025 group pace is up approximately 6 % compared to 2024 with average rate accounting for over half of that increase .

Complementing the sanguine news on group is continued growth in business transient , the segment , Hoplamazian said , delivering the largest year-over-year growth , with revenue up approximately 16 %. “ Major urban markets continue to benefit from the recovery of business travel ,” he said .

Hyatt reported that systemwide hotels RevPAR increased 3 % compared to the same period in 2023 , with net rooms

growth of approximately 4.3 %, including the openings of Park Hyatt Marrakech , Hyatt ’ s first Park Hyatt in Northern Africa , and the Alila Shanghai .

Hyatt ’ s pipeline of executed management or franchise contracts was approximately 135,000 rooms . Net income was $ 471 million . Membership in the World of Hyatt loyalty program surpassed 50 million people . “ The U . S and Greater China continue to account for significant signing activity , especially among our uppermidscale brands ,” Hoplamazian said , adding that the level of conversions has continued to represent a significant proportion during the current lull in new-construction starts . However , like Hilton said on its Q3 call , there has been a noticeable thaw in ground-up development starts . “ We have seen increases in construction starts in China in the last two quarters ,” Hoplamazian said . ( Rooms in China represent about 38 % of Hyatt ’ s total pipeline .) “ The number of portfolio deals and conversions of platforms remains high , and we are continuously pursuing those , especially in markets in which we have particularly low relative penetration ,” he said .

Though Hyatt has over the years recalibrated its brand architecture some , it ’ s at the luxury level where it makes its hay , Hoplamazian said . “ We continue to see high-end consumers prioritizing travel as RevPAR growth is the strongest amongst our luxury brands ,” he said .

As hotel brand stables grow , many companies are spinning out luxury and lifestyle divisions . Accor has done it ; now Hyatt is . In the vapor of its closing on Standard International , Hoplamazian announced that in the coming months Hyatt will debut a new lifestyle group led by former executive chairman of Standard International , Amar Lalvani . At the same time , Hoplamazian said it will also be forming a dedicated luxury group with distinct leadership , though there was no announcement of who that will be .

“ We believe this alignment will allow us to care more deeply for guests , customers and especially hotel owners across each of our brands ,” he said . “ The purpose of forming a lifestyle and luxury group is to hyper-focus on distinct customer groups that we ’ re serving and to have much sharper definition of each brand . You ’ re not going to have a cacophony of a laundry list of brands . You ’ re going to see collections or groups that have logic for distinct customers and guests .”

LONG-TERM GROWTH Net rooms growth in the quarter was 4.3 %, which prompted one analyst to ask why it was down relative to a year ago . Openings this year , Hoplamazian said , are expected to be over 6 % lower than expectations because of what he referred to as “ slippage ” of more than 2,000 rooms into 2025 , many of which

are still under construction and won ’ t be completed this year . There is another reason : attrition . Attrition is a regular occurrence for all hotel companies , but Hoplamazian said that attrition of its rooms came in higher than it expected , approaching around 1.5 % this year , “ which is significantly higher than our typical run rate of between 0.5 % and 1 %.”

Like a seasoned politician , Hoplamazian spun the higher rate favorably , saying that brand standards and marketspecific issues affected its renewals or agreements to move forward with certain hotels in its portfolio , calling Hyatt “ disciplined in maintaining standards .” Most recently , tommie Hollywood is reportedly rebranding under Marriott International ’ s Tribute Portfolio . Formerly under Hyatt , the lifestyle hotel has been renamed as Hollywood Volume , a Tribute Portfolio Hotel .

One of the realities of hotel ownership is that it is a capitalintensive business . It ’ s also a reality that many lodging companies launched brands and have hotels that have been operating for decades-plus . Hotels have end lives — long , sure — but over that time require PIPs ( property improvement plans ) at intervals . Like the late Marriott International CEO Arne Sorenson was fond of saying : “ The hotel industry isn ’ t oversupplied ; it ’ s underdemolished .”

Some lodging companies recognize that , over time , a

Jan / Feb 2025 hotelsmag . com 55