Skift Take
Marriott has proudly opened its 9,000th property. Hilton has debuted its 8,000th. We put these milestones into perspective by creating a five-year growth scorecard for all the major hotel groups.
On August 16, Marriott International opened its 9,000th property, with the debut of The St. Regis Longboat Key Resort in Florida. Meanwhile, Hilton Worldwide said Friday it had opened its 8,000th property.
Skift decided to put these hotel development milestones into perspective. What have been the long-term growth trends among the major hotel groups?
Hotel Counts, Mid-2019 to Mid-2024
| Hotel Group | Property Count Mid-2019 | Property Count Mid-2024 | Compound Annual Growth Rate Over 5 Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wyndham | 9,186 | 9,200 | 0.3% |
| Marriott | 5,231 | 9,000 | 11.5% |
| Hilton | 5,900 | 8,000 | 6.3% |
| Choice | 7,045 | 7,486 | 1.2% |
| Accor | 4,946 | 7,045 | 7.3% |
| IHG | 5,600 | 6,430 | 2.8% |
| Hyatt | 428 | 1,352 | 25% |
The big picture: Marriott has sustained the most rapid growth pace in property count among its peers in the past five years, including a come-from-behind overtaking of its peer Hilton.
Hyatt had the biggest growth spurt of the major hotel groups, but that was a rise from a significantly smaller base.
Room Counts, Mid-2019 to Mid-2024
Property counts don’t give a full picture. It helps to compare room counts, too. Some hotel groups have mostly select-service properties, which can find customers in more places than full-service hotels and thus boost overall room counts.
| Hotel Group | Room Count Mid-2019 | Room Count Mid-2024 | Compound Annual Growth Rate Over 5 Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marriott | 898,463 | 1,659,000 | 13.0% |
| Hilton | 939,000 | 1,200,000 | 5.0% |
| IHG | 856,000 | 955,000 | 2.2% |
| Wyndham | 816,600 | 885,000 | 1.6% |
| Choice Hotels | 572,659 | 631,063 | 2.0% |
| Accor | 726,000 | 838,722 | 2.9% |
| Hyatt | 150,089 | 325,507 | 16.7% |
The big picture: By room count, Marriott has shown strong hotel development growth over the past five years compared with its peers.
Hyatt was the largest gainer by room count, but it started from a much smaller base than its rivals.
The long-term view: Rankings shift over time. Today’s numbers are a snapshot of a moment. It’s hard to believe that IHG could tout in 2011 it was the largest hotel group by number of rooms. IHG has since fallen behind to third place in the rankings.
What’s Next
- Hilton has recently picked up its pace of hotel count growth. In a little over two years, it went from 7,000 to 8,000 hotels, representing a roughly 7% a year growth rate in property count.
- Marriott went from 8,000 to 9,000 hotels over two-and-a-half years, representing a pace of hotel count growth of about 5%.
- As for room counts, Marriott and Hilton have said they are on track for roughly 6% to 6.5% growth this year.