Silcock said the chain is ‘exceptionally’ bullish on the sector and that is supported by its results.
“Last year was a record year for us in signings and we added more rooms to our portfolio on a global basis in Q4 than in any year in over 100 years of our history,” Silcock said. “We opened over 130 hotels in Q4 of 2023 and we now have a pipeline of over 3,000 hotels, and half a million rooms. So, on a global basis, we feel very bullish.” Hilton aims to have 75 trading and in-pipeline hotels in India by 2027. It operates 26 hotels in India and there are 20 more in the pipeline.
“And now when you come to India, that almost magnifies, because we do anticipate on a global basis, there will be some ups and downs as most mature markets experience macroeconomic uncertainties. In India, it feels like the momentum is so strong that despite the global economic conditions, growth will continue to accelerate. We see immense opportunity for hospitality broadly, but for Hilton especially,” he added.
“Our intent is to triple our current supply over the next few years. The number right now compared to the opportunity, these two things are completely different. The trajectory being in the right direction is more important for the long term,” he said.
Hilton has 7,626 properties globally spanning 1,197,329 rooms across 126 countries and territories. Silcock said in Q1 of 2024, the chain approved a little under 30,000 new rooms for its pipeline. “We have five brands trading here in India today. We are planning to bring more of our brands to India. We are certainly looking to bring our focused service and economy brands such as Spark in the near future,” he added.Hilton signed a Curio Collection hotel for India last year, so that’s another brand coming to the market by next year.
The American hotel chain announced a global partnership with Bollywood superstar Deepika Padukone earlier this year.
“Our partnership with Deepika is probably unique and only parallel in some way to Paris Hilton. The partnership with Deepika is a global partnership and in fact we have achieved huge benefits in other markets around the world as well as here in India by partnering with her,” said Silcock. “We need partners who represent our values, partners who are revered for what they do and are seen as the best and Deepika represents that,” he added.
Hilton could also consider partnering for cricket in India. The chain has partnerships with McLaren and the Chelsea football club globally.
“The McLaren team stays in our hotels as they travel around the world. And they talk to their fans about how our hotels enable them to do better in their daily work, which is Formula One racing,” said Silcock. “We have a partnership with the Chelsea Football Club in the UK. Cricket is definitely in our future. In what form? I can’t say at this point, but you can definitely expect to see that in some form or shape in our future,” he added.
