Hospitality M&A value saw ‘sharp rebound’ in H2 2025: report

Dive Brief:

In 2025, the global travel, leisure and hospitality sector saw $51.6 billion in mergers and acquisitions, a 83% year-over-year increase in deal value, according to a second-half M&A report from professional services firm KPMG. Deal volume in 2025 “pulled back modestly” by 3.1% year over year, “indicating fewer but higher-value transactions.”
Specifically for the second half of the year, deal value saw a “sharp rebound,” increasing by a considerable 229.8% compared to the first half of 2025. H2 also saw 448 deals, a 12% increase in deal volume from the first half of the year.
The findings from KPMG’s H2 report follow similar hospitality M&A trends from H1, indicating that hoteliers and investors are still prioritizing quality over quantity in deals — a trend expected to continue into early 2026.

Dive Insight:

The leisure and hospitality space specifically drove deal activity in the sector in the second half of 2025, with luxury and ecoluxury hotels and resorts continuing to outperform, according to KPMG.

Several recent acquisitions support this finding, including Tortuga Resorts’ $2 billion purchase of the Playa Hotels & Resorts real estate portfolio from Hyatt Hotels and MCR Hotels’ $2.7 billion buy of membership club Soho House.

Capital flowing back into the travel, leisure and hospitality sector in 2025 was largely due to strategic buyers becoming more aggressive in the M&A space, accounting for 53.7% of deal value — an increase of 146.8% year over year.

Private equity-backed deals, meanwhile, dipped 23.1% year over year in 2025, accounting for 46.3% of total deal value. Looking to 2026, a recent global hotel investment report published by JLL predicts that private equity will be “back on the offense” this year, with firms ready to deploy capital on hotels.

While most money was concentrated in the leisure and hospitality sectors in H2, travel deals leaned a bit softer, with activity pivoting toward “platforms, content, and data/insights rather than capacity plays,” per KPMG.

Moreover, 52% of deals in the travel, hospitality and leisure sector in 2025 were for less than $25 million, while about 22% of deals ranged between $25 million and $99 million. This follows a mostly “quiet” year for corporate mergers and acquisitions in 2024 due in part to the high cost of capital.

“We do not expect a return to indiscriminate megadeals; instead, dealmakers will continue to price discipline, favor structured finance, and insist on synergy certainty,” KPMG said in its report, adding that companies will remain focused on their core business to ensure stability and long-term revenue growth.

For 2026, KPMG forecasts the market will stay “constructive” and that strategic buyers will “prioritize asset-light platforms and loyalty ecosystems.” During a fourth-quarter earnings call, Hyatt CEO Mark Hoplamazian emphasized an asset-light strategy going into 2026, and expects “asset-light earnings of 90%” for the year.

Daniel Fischer, a KPMG partner and deal advisory and strategy lead for travel, leisure and hospitality, said in a statement the group expects to see “market recovery and increased M&A activity” throughout 2026.

“There’s also going to be continued investment in technology, with a focus on tech-driven hospitality solutions,” Fischer said.

Furthermore, changing traveler preferences will impact the sector in 2026, as visitors gravitate toward finding unique experiences rather than “simply moving from one destination to another,” per the report. The upcoming FIFA World Cup will likely catalyze investment and boost leisure demand as travelers seek “destination-focused adventures.”