Name: This Is How the Starwood-Marriott Merger Will Impact Hyatt
Uploaded: 2016-05-23
Duration: 4 min 17 s
Description: CEO Mark Hoplamazian explains.

Martha Marriott acquisition of [ UNKNOWN ] has been big news in the hotel industry. How does this impact Hyatt? Really, the two biggest influences, I think, will be how guests react, and the guest base that [ UNKNOWN ] has had over time may be looking for a new home, a brand family that serves the high end, which is us. And secondly, from a development perspective, that company will end up with coverage in many different markets, extensive coverage, and we still have a great runway for growth because we're still filling in representation in many markets around the world with very strong brand representation and very strong brand awareness. So those are two very big opportunities for us. Now, Hyatt early on was also trying to By Starwood and it didn't work out. But you said recently, you were telling Wall Street analysts that Hyatt is a potential buyer or potential seller of new properties. What do you have in mind? What are you looking for? We're looking to grow in key markets in which we are under represented. And that's gateway cities, resorts, convention hotels, And select service hotels in urban markets. So, those are the four areas we've been focused on. And that's how we've applied our capital in the past. We purchased, for example, a hotel in Mexico City. We didn't have a presence in Mexico City. That is today the High Regency Mexico City, and it's doing superbly well. We bought a big convention hotel in Orlando, for example, that is at the Orange County Convention Center. And a key part of our convention offering in the company. So you're talking about moving into new markets, that's important. What about Cuba? Is that on your list? Sure. Cuba's garnered a lot of attention because of history And Cuba will be a market that we will absolutely pursue. And I do believe that we will have some properties there, I don't think it'll make the top ten list int he world in terms of presence but it's an important market and it's got such a rich history that I think it'll continue to garner some attention. Let's talk a little bit about China which surprisingly is the second biggest market for Hyatt outside of The United States. Tell us about what your China strategy is. A lot of people are focusing on outbound travel which is gonna grow significantly over time. The most important market for Chinese travelers today is China itself. So we're very focused on, mostly through a very distinctive food and beverage strategy to make sure that we're garnering great Awareness and preference for our brands there. So, that as traveler's then start to leave and travel the world, they'll have the height experience in their minds. How is the business environment in China? Is it still slow, is it getting better? What's your take on it. We see actually the business environment is actually good and positive I think as a macro matter people are focused on the fact that it's growing slower than it was a couple of years ago but the actual underlying growth rate is still quite significant. Speaking of growth, Hyatt recently reported very strong quarterly earnings. They were up sharply but can you keep up that momentum for the rest of this year given The US economy is barely growing and the global economy is also very weak. Well, I think the fact is that we've seen great strength, leisure demand so far this year has been very, very strong. It really led the way. In the first quarter there was a lot of vacation travel under way and corporate demand is actually been maintained a good pace during this period in time. Group demand, larger groups and conventions, meetings and so forth, that business has actually been quite healthy and stable. So I would say that we're seeing positive momentum, and coming into the year we thought that we would see a year in which the top line would grow somewhere between 3 % and 5 %. And that really remains our outlook for this year. Because of the weak growth in the US economy, we're beginning to hear some economists debating on whether or not a recession is right around the corner. Where are you in that debate? I certainly don't see any signs that that's imminent, so I would say that there are interesting evolution of challenges around the world for sure. But the U. S. has actually been the market that's held up the best if I look across the entire world. [ BLANK_AUDIO ]