Hilton Forecasts Full Rebound in Group and Event Bookings Within a Year
Photo Caption: Waldorf Astoria Chicago hosts meetings and events. Source: Hilton.
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The hotel heavyweight expects its all-important group business to fully recover within a year. If Hilton decides to book one of its ballrooms to celebrate, it'll find rates higher than in 2019.
The Hilton hotel empire is eager to welcome back business gatherings and weddings at its ballrooms, meeting spaces, and guestrooms worldwide. Its executives forecast on Tuesday that it expects its group bookings to speed up this year and return to pre-pandemic levels within about 12 months.
"Our sales folks can hardly keep up with all the leads that are coming in for the second half of this year and particularly into next year," said president and CEO Christopher Nassetta during an earnings call.
"I do think 2023 [group booking levels] will be back at 2019 levels," Nassetta said.
The Virginia-based hotel operator has historically seen about 20 perce
