Business transient revenue per available room (RevPAR) in the second quarter at Hilton Worldwide was up 5.7% year over year, according to Christopher Nassetta, CEO, speaking on an earnings call. He said the increase represented a three-point step up globally and a four-point step up in the US over the first quarter.

According to Nassetta, much of the business transient volume was powered by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) — a segment that had previously “not been growing as much” but saw more than 7% year-over-year growth during the second quarter.  

Group RevPAR was up 3.7%, owing to growth in company meeting demand and year-over-year event calendar shifts, according to Nassetta. He said SMEs also drove some of the gains in group travel and that “the big corporates were growing but at a lower pace.” 

Nassetta said Hilton expects the business transient segment to continue to gain momentum into the third quarter. He said other “macro tailwinds” would drive broader demand growth across Hilton’s system. They include supportive tax and regulatory policy, increased private sector investment in AI, low hotel supply growth and ongoing public infrastructure spending that would benefit the middle- and lower-income consumer. 

Hilton’s recently announced partnership with Navan, the business travel platform, said Nassetta, “bypasses both intermediary connections and other more expensive distribution channels, providing meaningful cost savings for our owners.”

Hilton’s second-quarter systemwide RevPAR increased 3.9% year over year to $125.02. Average daily rate (ADR) increased 2.5% year over year, while occupancy rose 1 percentage point to 74.9%.  In the US, RevPAR increased 5.4% year over year to $139.28, driven by a 3.2% hike in ADR to $180.16 and a 1.6-percentage-point increase in occupancy to 77.3%.