Hilton Glimpses a Recovery in Decimated Conventions and Corp Travel Business
Photo Credit: Leisure travel still leads the recovery at Hilton, but business and group travelers are signaling a return to booking rooms. Wikimedia / Matti Blume
Skift Take
If Hilton sees reason to be optimistic around a faster-than-expected travel recovery, that’s a major boost to all hotel companies, especially ones with less exposure to convention and business-transient customers.
The corporate travel comeback may not be as far off as some may think. That’s at least the chatter at Hilton.
The company’s spring turnaround from a winter drop in an already uncertain pandemic recovery is due to more than leisure travel, Hilton CEO Christopher Nassetta reported on a first quarter investor call Wednesday. Hilton’s business transient traveler revenue was roughly 75 percent of 2019 levels over the first quarter in China and U.S. states with eased travel restrictions.
Emerging recovery trends have Nassetta expecting leisure travel will be back to 2019 levels, on a room nights basis, by the end of the year. Business transient could be at 70 percent while group business — generally expected to be the industry laggard — at half of pre-pandemic levels.
“Certainly, since we had our last call, the slope of the recovery is a lot steeper than we would have thought,” he said. “Our view is we’re on a solid road to recovery.”
Leaders at Hilton, like m
.jpg){kind=link}