Hyatt's CEO is eyeing all those rich Asians in fastest-growing region for brand

Mark Hoplamazian expects more than 50 hotel openings in Asia this year alone

- Ravi Velloor

On Feb 13, after Hyatt Hotels Corp announced full-year results for 2024, its shares fell by more than a tenth because its fourth-quarter performance had missed analysts' projections.

While president and chief executive Mark Hoplamazian explained that some of the slip had been on account of slow business as a result of the US election in November, and the Jewish holidays of Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah keeping people at home in October (in 2023, those holidays were celebrated in September), investors turned watchful.

The stock price is down about a fifth since 2025 began. In March, several analysts cut their price target for Hyatt, and the consensus rating is "hold". Still, the average target price is a little over US$162 - suggesting significant upside from the price at which Hyatt is currently trading, which is about US$122.

These are not challenges that should faze the 61-year-old Mr Hoplamazian unduly. Hyatt, though a traded stock, is substantially controlled by the Pritzker family of Chicago, and that enables both proprietors and chief executive to shrug off the market gyrations. Over a five-year period, Hyatt's stock has risen close to 170 per cent, and it has regularly returned cash to shareholders through a series of buybacks.

That said, stock prices do matter and Hyatt seems like it could use a tailwind.

What could that be? The boom in travel and tourism is now more or less taken for granted, so that cannot be the booster. In the first six weeks of 2025, Hyatt Hotels opened 9,000 rooms, representing 40 per cent of the planned net room growth for 2025. Six in 10 rooms are "front-loaded", in the sense that they are to open in the first half of the year.

So where does Mr Hoplamazian expect to find that extra thrust?