Topping the list of the world’s most valuable hotels brand was Hilton, whose brand value jumped by 58% to $12.0 billion
As summer vacations begin and travel numbers continues its climb back to pre-pandemic levels, hotels have been getting ready for renewed tourism; but which hotels are customers running to?
Brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance has recently released its “Hotels 50 2022” report, which measures the top 50 most valuable and strongest hotel brands.
“The global disruption to travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic caused significant disruption to brand values – but customers recognize that hotels are not to blame for the disruption. As a result, we see that successful brands have been able to bounce back quickly and re-earn customer trust in the post-pandemic world,” explained Alex Haigh, Brand Finance’s Technical Director.
Topping the list of the world’s most valuable hotels brand was Hilton, whose brand value jumped by 58% to $12.0 billion, beating out both companies in 2nd and 3rd place combined.
Following Hilton was Hyatt with a brand value that went up 26% to $5.9 billion and Holiday Inn whose brand value increased by 10% to $4.2 billion.
“As we look to a post-pandemic world, Hilton’s brand value increase is driven by both an increase in forecast revenue and increased profitability expectations. At the same time, Brand Finance research discovered that customers improved their perception of Hilton, with the large brand’s perceived reliability and credibility on safety issues being a key factor,” explained the report.
These factors led to a 7.2 point increase on its Brand Strength Index from 80.8 to 88.0, improving its Brand Rating from AAA- to AAA and becoming the third strongest hotel brand in the world this year.
The pandemic’s mark is still on the hotel industry, with two-thirds of the brands (34) evaluated by Brand Finance remaining below their pre-pandemic valuation of 2020, with just one-third (16) above their pre-pandemic valuation.
In terms of strength, Taj Hotels was rated as the strongest brand in the ranking with a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 88.9 out of 100 and a corresponding AAA brand rating. Taj Hotels’ brand value saw an incline of 6% to hit $314 million, said the report.
Brand Finance determines the relative strength of brands through a balanced scorecard of metrics evaluating marketing investment, stakeholder equity, and business performance.
The Ritz-Carlton was named the world’s fastest growing hotel brand, more than doubling in value this year, surging 112% in value to hit $1.1 billion, 67% above its pre-pandemic value of $632 million.
This brand value has increased based on its impressively high revenue per available room and large number of rooms. Part of the Marriott Group, the Ritz-Carlton has built an extremely strong brand, with its Brand Strength Index increasing from 79.6 to 83.2, with its brand rating now firmly in the AAA- band.
