Hyatt Raises 2026 Outlook to 5.5% as Luxury Leisure Carries Results

Hyatt raised its full-year RevPAR forecast to 5% to 5.5% growth for 2026, up from the 3.5% to 4.5% range issued in July and above the 4.7% average Wall Street estimate, as Barclays analysts noted. The upgrade follows a third quarter in which U.S. RevPAR (revenue per available room) climbed 8.2%, including roughly 50 basis points of lift from the FIFA World Cup.

Adjusted earnings told the same story. EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) rose 19% to $295 million, after adjusting for hotels sold last year. Growth is concentrated almost entirely at the top of the market.

Who is driving the numbers?

The affluent vacationer. CEO Mark Hoplamazian credited premium travelers for the resilience on a Thursday earnings call: "Luxury leisure has just remained the juggernaut of growth for us."

That concentration is a strategy as much as a result. A portfolio built on luxury leisure is effectively a wager on the wealth effect holding, and management did not pretend otherwise. Hoplamazian cautioned against reading too much into October indicators, citing volatility and the upcoming U.S. midterms.

How did the regions perform?

Domestic demand absorbed the sharpest shock abroad. In the Middle East, the U.S.-Iran war cut international inbound travel to Hyatt hotels in the region by 40%. Yet regional RevPAR fell only about 3%, cushioned by local demand. Hyatt expects the region to cost roughly $10 million in fees this year.

The rest of the map:

• Europe: RevPAR up 4.3%
• Asia Pacific excluding China: growth above 10%
• China: up 2.1%
• U.S.: up 8.2%, including the World Cup boost

Why did all-inclusives lag?

The all-inclusive portfolio was the quarter's one soft spot. Net package RevPAR fell 2.5%, dragged down by Cancún, where demand dropped more than 10% after airlines cut flight capacity, and by the Riviera Maya, where sargassum seaweed deterred bookings.

The supply-side mechanics matter here. Cancún's decline traces to airline capacity cuts, not to pricing or product. That is a constraint Hyatt cannot engineer away from the resort level. Sargassum is similarly external, tied to ocean conditions rather than operator decisions.

The forward signal is more forgiving. CFO Joan Bottarini said 2027 bookings pace for the all-inclusive segment is up in the high single digits, suggesting the dip reflects temporary headwinds rather than a structural shift in demand for the bundled-resort model.

What happens next?

Hyatt enters 2026 with a raised forecast, a fee hit of roughly $10 million from the Middle East, and an all-inclusive segment whose recovery depends on airline capacity returning to Cancún and seaweed receding from the Riviera Maya. The bet remains the same: wealthy travelers keep spending. If equity markets wobble, that assumption gets tested quickly.