Three areas have especially helped drive the company’s growth and performance throughout the past 12 months: conversion signings and new hotel openings, outsized demand for extended stay properties in drive-to leisure markets, and frequent updates to its guest loyalty program, Hilton Honors. Here, we dig deeper into why Hilton is well positioned to emerge stronger than ever from this crisis.
1. THE VALUE HILTON OFFERS TO INDEPENDENT HOTELS
Hilton commands an industry-leading share of global conversion signings. According to Hilton’s Q4 and full year 2020 earnings, the company saw an increase in conversions for the full year of more than 30 percent compared to 2019. DoubleTree by Hilton and Hilton’s Collection Brands — LXR Hotels & Resorts, Curio Collection, and Tapestry Collection — continue to attract these opportunities, with notable deals such as Mango House Seychelles, LXR Hotels & Resorts, and Nácar Hotel Cartagena, Curio Collection by Hilton announced last year.
Covid-19 has shown that strong brand names matter when it comes to customer confidence. While independent properties relied heavily on their uniqueness pre-pandemic, the benefits of joining the Hilton portfolio can reassure guests of consistency in the stay experience, and that the appropriate health and safety protocols are in place.
Being under the umbrella of a big brand can help ease operations for owners, which is especially relevant to many independents after this year’s challenges. Gary Steffen, Hilton’s global category head, Full Service, spoke to SkiftX about the success behind these conversion signings. “Joining one of these brands changes the business model for hotel owners,” he said. “They allow hoteliers to leverage Hilton’s performance advantage with our 112 million Honors members, our Hilton brand.com owned channels, and our group sales and marketing efforts.”
“The efforts Hilton undertakes — to support cleaner, safer spaces, flexible policies, sales, and other programs — are designed to drive business back to our owners’ hotels and support the future of hospitality.”
2. HILTON’S BRAND FLAG ATTRACTS INVESTORS
Steffen also explained that the decision to look to Hilton’s portfolio of 18 brands isn’t only coming from the owners — the banks backing these properties see the advantage as well, especially knowing the challenges the hospitality industry faces today. “From their standpoint, they want to make sure that the owners are partnering with a brand that has a solid distribution engine and strong equity,” Steffen said.