Hilton (NYSE:HLT) grew system-wide RevPAR 5.8% in the third quarter, but the Middle East and Africa fell 5.6%, the company said on October 27.
The region was the weakest in Hilton’s portfolio. Occupancy there dropped 5 percentage points to 64.8%, and RevPAR is down 12.3% for the first nine months, against growth of 4.7% across the system. Hilton said its full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance of $4.06bn-$4.08bn includes lower expectations for the Middle East, and that the region would weigh further on the fourth quarter.
Asia Pacific RevPAR slipped 0.5%. The US led with 7%, followed by Europe on 6.5% and the Americas outside the US on 6.3%.
“We achieved our highest quarter ever for organic openings,” said president and CEO Christopher Nassetta.
Net income rose to $536mn from $421mn a year earlier and adjusted EBITDA to $1.06bn from $976mn. Diluted earnings per share came in at $2.37.
Development in emerging markets continued despite the weaker trading. Hilton opened The Den Bengaluru, the first LXR Hotels & Resorts property in India, in a city that also gained a new nonstop link to Zurich this week. It also debuted DoubleTree by Hilton in Singapore and Canopy by Hilton in Thailand.
The opening of Hilton Istanbul Airport took the group to 100 hotels in Turkiye, and Hilton signed more than 20 deals in the Middle East and Africa during the quarter. Luxury signings included Waldorf Astoria Seychelles Mahe, Conrad Bengaluru Airport and an LXR property in the Galapagos.
Hilton opened 182 hotels with 27,000 rooms in the quarter. Its pipeline stood at 543,100 rooms in 3,869 hotels across 135 countries and territories, including 26 where it has no hotels yet, and more than half of those rooms are outside the US.
For 2026, Hilton expects RevPAR growth of 4.0%-4.5% and net unit growth around the midpoint of its 6%-7% range. Its shares will move from the New York Stock Exchange to Nasdaq on November 5 under the same ticker.
Hilton is a McLean, Virginia-based hotel group with 28 brands and more than 9,600 properties and 1.4mn rooms in 144 countries and territories.
