Luxury and World Cup Travel Demand Lift Hilton Revenue Projection

Image: The Athenian Lounge inside the Conrad Athens The Ilisian. (Photo Credit: © 2026 Hilton)
Image: The Athenian Lounge inside the Conrad Athens The Ilisian. (Photo Credit: © 2026 Hilton)
Lacey Pfalz
by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 8:35 AM ET, Tue July 28, 2026

Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Inc. reported on its 2026 second quarter financials, noting that luxury travelers are boosting the hotel giant’s full-year room revenue prediction.  

Hilton took in a net income of $482 million for the second quarter, with an adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of $1.054 billion. 

The World Cup and luxury travel demand helped boost RevPAR by 3.9% during the quarter, compared to the same period last year, even as room revenue in the Middle East dropped nearly 30% due to the ongoing war. 

Hilton’s pipeline includes a 6% growth, for a total pipeline of 541,300 rooms in development around the world. It added 24,100 rooms to its portfolio, a growth rate of 6.1% from 2025. 

Two new developments include the opening of the Hilton Chania Old Town Resort & Spa in Crete, the opening of the Conrad Athens The Ilisian in Athens, and the launch of the Undergraduate by Hilton brand, which is set to open its first hotel in 2027.

The hotel giant is raising its full-year 2026 RevPAR projection to 3%-3.5% compared with last year, up from its previous forecast of 2%-3%. It’s projecting its net income between $1.883 billion and $1.911 billion, with an adjusted EBITDA of over $4 billion.

Reuters noted that Hilton expects a bump to third-quarter results in North America due to the World Cup, but a slight dip in the fourth quarter of the year due to calendar shifts and midterm elections.

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Lacey Pfalz

Lacey Pfalz

Senior Editor, News & Features

Lacey Pfalz is Associate Editor at TravelPulse. She's a passionate advocate of responsible travel and believes the best travel experiences happen outside of a planned itinerary. Lacey currently lives in rural Wisconsin. She can be reached at [email protected].

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