Hyatt to Open Ten New Hotels Across Latin America

Hyatt Hotels Corp. has wrapped up a joint venture agreement with LATAM Hotel Corp. to develop ten Hyatt Place hotels in Central America and Mexico. Some of these hotels, according to Hyatt statement, are already under construction in Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

Hyatt first expanded into Latin America in 2012 with the launch of a hotel in the Costa Rican capital San Jose. This was the first Hyatt Place hotel outside of the United States.

“We believe Central America has strong economic growth potential, and we are excited to see these five hotels become the first Hyatt-branded hotels in their respective countries,” said Pat McCudden, senior vice president for Hyatt in Latin America.

A year after its entry into Costa Rica, Hyatt broke the ground for construction of nine hotels in Brazil. The same year, it inaugurated Hyatt Place Bayamon in Puerto Rico and Hyatt Place Los Cabos in Mexico.

In May 2012, Hyatt acquired Hotel Nikko Mexico in Mexico City and rebranded it as the Hyatt Regency. There are now four Hyatt hotels in Mexico.

Hyatt is building two hotels in Honduras: in San Pedro Sula and the capital city, Tegucigalpa. The latter will be located in the downtown Parque Comercial Los Proceres, an upscale neighborhood, home to gated communities and the Embassy of the United States.

Additional hotels in Panama and Chile are slated to be opened later this year and construction is also underway on a 77,500 square foot site (7,400 square meters) in Nicaragua’s capital Managua. The hotel, scheduled to be opened in 2015, is said to be 20 minutes drive from Managua’s Augusto Sandino International Airport.

Further Hyatt hotels in El Salvador and Guatemala will be operational in 2016. “The 140-guestroom hotel is being developed on a 122,116 square foot site in Guatemala City,” Hyatt stated, adding that its hotel in San Salvador will also include additional retail, dining and office space.

Hyatt is among a number of U.S. hotel companies that are aggressively expanding overseas amid a sharp rise in leisure and corporate travel.