Dive Brief:

• Hyatt Hotels posted a year-over-year systemwide RevPAR increase of 5.4% for the first quarter of 2026, according to its latest earnings report. The performance exceeded expectations, CEO Mark Hoplamazian told analysts on a Thursday call.
• In the U.S., RevPAR increased 3.3% year over year. Growth was driven by full-service hotels and strong leisure demand, especially at resorts, which saw an especially solid March, CFO Joan Bottarini said on the call. 
• The strongest area of growth came from the company’s luxury brands, buoyed by premium customer leisure transient demand, Hoplamazian said. Meanwhile, luxury all-inclusive travel led to net package RevPAR growth of 7.4% year over year. “If there's any sign of weakness in terms of the high-end customer, we have not seen it,” Hoplamazian said.

Dive Insight:

Regarding its luxury brand group, “We are playing the game differently and are focused on the clients that we serve and how we go to market, and I think our relative performance is a reflection of that,” Hoplamazian said.

Based on improved performance in the U.S., Hyatt increased its full year systemwide RevPAR outlook to between 2% and 4%, and raised U.S. RevPAR to between 2% and 3% for the full year, Bottarini said. The company previously anticipated systemwide RevPAR growth of between 1% and 3%.

“We are increasingly positive about the outlook for the United States,” Bottarini said. “Forward booking trends in the United States are strong for the balance of 2026 with group pace for full service hotels up in the mid single digits for the remainder of the year.”

Systemwide business transient RevPAR was up 2.4% for the quarter and group RevPAR rose nearly 4%. In the U.S. group RevPAR was up 1.2% despite challenging comps.

Hoplamazian said the ongoing situation in the Middle East could result in persistently higher oil prices, but said “the biggest hit in terms of demand will be amongst lower income households,” which is “where a disproportionate amount of the pain will be felt.”

Systemwide, Hyatt opened 3,966 rooms in the quarter, including The Livingston in Brooklyn, New York, which is the first Hyatt-branded hotel in the borough. Additionally, the company signed several new franchise agreements across Hyatt Studios, Hyatt Select and Unscripted by Hyatt in the U.S., Hoplamazian said

“In total, the pipeline for new hotels in our Essentials brand group increased nearly 25% compared to the first quarter of 2025,” he said.

Hyatt’s loyalty program ended the first quarter of 2026 with approximately 66 million members, per Hoplamazian, representing an 18% year-over-year increase