Hilton Is Pretty Sure It Needs Five More Hotel Brands to Better Compete
Photo Credit: A rendering of Hilton's newest hotel brand, Tru by Hilton, which could prove to be a model for how Hilton approaches the debut of five new brands in the near future. Hilton Worldwide
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Hilton's MO? We're doing just fine — but it couldn't hurt to add a few more brands, either.
At Hilton Worldwide's Investor Day on Dec. 8, Jim Holthouser, Hilton's executive vice president of global brands, revealed that while the company is very happy with its repertoire of 13 hotel brands, it isn't ruling out the possibility of adding more.
In fact, Holthouser identified five "white spaces for potential future brands" for shareholders: a luxury soft brand collection, a luxury lifestyle brand, a "Hilton plus" brand, an upscale soft brand collection, and an urban microtel brand.
The announcement was somewhat surprising, given that Hilton CEO Christopher Nassetta has thrown a bit of shade on its biggest competitor, Marriott, for having too many brands that are similar to each other.
During Hilton's third quarter earnings call, he said. "We are very focused on having pure-bred brands that are leaders in their individual segments, that have clearly defined swim lanes, that have premium market share and, as a consequence, help us drive industry leading organic net unit g
