Hyatt Invests Heavily In Its Luxury And Lifestyle Segments

Faced with growing demand for upscale travel, Hyatt continues to expand its portfolio, with a particular focus on luxury and lifestyle brands. Since 2017, the group has doubled its number of luxury rooms and quintupled those dedicated to lifestyle. It now has a total of 256 hotels in these two segments, spread across 45 countries. In 2024, Hyatt strengthened its offering by acquiring the Standard International brands, including The Standard and Bunkhouse.

Among the major openings is the Miraval the Red Sea hotel, due to open in late 2025, which will mark the Miraval brand's first international presence. Also planned are two new Park Hyatts in Kuala Lumpur and Johannesburg, as well as two Andaz hotels in Miami Beach and on Australia's Gold Coast, reflecting the Group's development strategy in key markets.

This dynamic is part of a strategy to structure offers around two portfolios: firstly, luxury, through ultra-premium experiences with brands such as Park Hyatt, Alila and Mirava; secondly, the lifestyle segment, with concepts focused on culture and design, with brands such as Andaz and Thompson Hotels. With 28 new lifestyle establishments in 2024 and the recent acquisition of most Standard International subsidiary brands, Hyatt is betting on this segment to appeal to the new travelling generations. In fact, the American hotel company has created a new dedicated Lifestyle Group, to be headquartered in New York, headed by President and Creative Director Amar Lalvani, former Executive Chairman of Standard International.

“This year, we have much to celebrate at ILTM, the premier event for the luxury hospitality industry. 2024 has been a strong year for the Europe, Africa and Middle East region, with luxury and lifestyle segments driving this success (…)” said Javier Águila, president of Hyatt's EAME group, in a statement.

In Europe, Hyatt intends to capitalize on an expected 52.8% growth in luxury hotel inventory by 2028, according to Savills. Ranked fifth among luxury hotel market leaders by Mordor Intelligence - behind Belmond, Accor, Marriott International and ITC Hotels in first place - Hyatt posted stable growth in the third quarter of 2024. This was marked by a 3% increase in RevPAR (revenue per available room) and net income of $471 million. For the full year, Hyatt anticipates net income of between $1.4 and $1.45 billion.

This positive trend is also evident among its competitors. Accor, for example, reported 18% growth in its luxury and lifestyle segment in the third quarter of 2024. According to a study published by Mordor Intelligence, the size of the global luxury hotel market is estimated at $107.77 billion in 2024 and could reach $157.59 billion by 2029, with average annual growth of 7.9% over this period.