For the fourth quarter and full year of 2021, Hilton’s systemwide comparable revenue per available room increased 104.2 percent and 60.4 percent, respectively, compared to the same periods in 2020, which the company credits to increases in both occupancy and average daily rate. For comparison to prepandemic results, systemwide comparable RevPAR for the three months and year ended Dec. 31, 2021, were down 13.5 percent and 30 percent, respectively, compared to the Q4 and full year 2019.
“As our results show, we made significant progress in our recovery throughout 2021,” President and CEO Chris Nassetta said during a call with investors. “Our margins were 500 basis points above 2019 peak levels, reaching roughly 66 percent for the full year.”
For the three months that ended Dec. 31, net income (loss) and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization were $148 million and $512 million, respectively, compared to minus-$225 million and $204 million, respectively, for the three months that ended Dec. 31, 2020.
For the full year, net income (loss) and adjusted EBITDA were $407 million and $1.629 billion, respectively, compared to minus-$720 million and $842 million, respectively, for 2020.
Development
Hilton opened more than one hotel each day in 2021, achieving net unit growth of 55,100 rooms with 414 new hotels totaling 67,100 rooms. In the fourth quarter of 2021, Hilton opened 94 new hotels totaling 16,100 rooms and achieved net unit growth of 13,100 rooms.
During the quarter, Hilton continued the expansion of its luxury portfolio with the openings of the Conrad Tulum Riviera Maya in Mexico and the Conrad Jiuzhaigou in China and also opened the Hilton Cancun in Mexico. Hilton continues to see growth in its focused-service brands, with Hampton by Hilton opening more than 30 hotels representing 4,300 rooms during the fourth quarter.
The company approved 26,000 new rooms for development during the fourth quarter. As of Dec. 31, 2021, Hilton's development pipeline totaled nearly 2,670 hotels representing nearly 408,000 rooms throughout 115 countries and territories, including 28 countries and territories where Hilton does not currently have any existing hotels. Additionally, of the rooms in the development pipeline, 198,000 of the rooms were under construction and 249,600 of the rooms were located outside the U.S.
Forecasts
Hilton anticipates strong leisure trends to continue again this year, driven by pent-up demand and nearly $2.5 trillion of excess consumer savings. “Our revenue position for Presidents’ Weekend is seven percentage points ahead of 2019 levels, and our position for weekends generally is up significantly for the year,” Nassetta said.
Nassetta said that while some costs will come back in as recovery progresses, the company is “extremely focused” on cost discipline. "We expect permanent margin improvement versus prior peak levels in the range of 400 to 600 basis points over the next few years," he said, and full year 2022 net unit growth is expected to be approximately 5 percent.