Hilton reports mixed per-room revenue performance amid economic challenges: Travel Weekly

Hilton reported a 0.5% decline in systemwide RevPAR for the second quarter of 2025, with CEO Christopher Nassetta citing “holiday and calendar shifts, reduced government spending, softer international inbound business and broader economic uncertainty” during the group’s Wednesday earnings call.

Hilton said the softness was driven primarily by “modest occupancy decreases,” with systemwide occupancy also down slightly, dipping 0.5 percentage points to 74.4%, though this was partially offset by slight gains in ADR, which rose 0.2% to $163.78.

The decline marks a continuation of the softening demand trends Nassetta flagged last quarter, when he described travelers as being in a “wait-and-see mode.”

The company’s global RevPAR picture was mixed, with the U.S. showing the most pronounced weakness. U.S. RevPAR was down 1.5%, while international markets demonstrated greater resilience, with Europe posting 2% growth, the Middle East and Africa up 10.3% and the Americas excluding the U.S. rising 3.8%. 

Asia-Pacific was essentially flat at 0.3% growth.

Group still going strong for Hilton

Hilton pointed to encouraging signs in group business, with that segment credited with helping drive a 7.9% increase in global management and franchise fees compared to the same period last year. Group demand proved to be especially strong in the U.S., particularly in urban markets, according to Nassetta.

“Group is still raging,” he said, adding that in the U.S., “business transient is still grinding up, not at a rapid pace, but still grinding up.” 

He described the U.S. leisure segment, however, as “normalizing,” in contrast to the “elevated levels” of years prior. 

Looking ahead, Nassetta expressed optimism about U.S. business travel picking up in the fall, predicting “more normalized business transient travel, particularly as you get a week or so past Labor Day. And in October, November, it will get cooking.”

For the quarter, Hilton reported total revenues of $3.14 billion, representing a 6.3% increase compared to the same period in 2024, while adjusted EBITDA grew to $1.01 billion from $917 million in the same quarter last year.  

“We continued to demonstrate the power of our resilient business model as we delivered strong bottom-line results in the quarter, even with modestly negative top-line performance,” Nassetta said.

For the full-year 2025, Hilton said it projects systemwide RevPAR to range from flat to 2% growth.