CHICAGO (September 19, 2016) – Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) today announced that Hyatt has appointed its longtime executive Jim Chu to the newly created position of global head of select service and franchise strategy, designed to strengthen and support the continued growth of the Hyatt Place and Hyatt House brands. Chu will report to Steve Haggerty, global head of capital strategy, franchising and select service for Hyatt.
In addition, Hyatt announced Susan Santiago has been selected as senior vice president, global select service and franchise operations. She will report to Chu.
“Strong leadership will continue to propel the Hyatt Place and Hyatt House brands as we believe they are tremendous growth engines for our business and have earned consistent financial results,” Haggerty said. “I’m confident that under Jim and Susan’s strategic guidance, these brands will build on their success and momentum among owners, franchisees and guests.”
Chu will continue to lead Hyatt’s global franchise strategy, and he will assume a new responsibility for the strategy to grow Hyatt’s select service business worldwide. Santiago’s new role combines oversight for select and full service franchise operations globally, creating efficiencies for both operations and owner resources.
“Jim has been a leading figure in building Hyatt’s franchising business model and development of our select service brands. He has shown a unique ability to cultivate productive relationships, both among his team and with our valued owners and franchisees,” Haggerty said. “Coupled with Susan’s tremendous operational expertise and passion for people, we believe they will make a great team in advancing the expansion of our select service and franchising businesses worldwide.”
Since joining Hyatt more than a decade ago, Chu has held several leadership positions in roles that work with franchisees and third-party owners. Prior to Hyatt, Chu served in various roles with Wyndham International, including general manager, regional vice president of sales and senior vice president of business development.
Santiago’s Hyatt career spans more than 20 years, beginning at Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay. She worked her way through an ascending series of food and beverage positions at Hyatt hotels around the country before serving in general manager roles in Key West, Aruba and Los Angeles. In addition, Santiago held leadership roles at the corporate office, overseeing food and beverage operations in the Americas and, most recently, all regional operations.
There are more than 325 Hyatt Place and Hyatt House hotels around the world, including the brands’ 20 openings in the first half 2016 alone. The Hyatt Place and Hyatt House brands account for a majority of the company’s total executed contract base, which totals 258 hotels as of June 30, 2016.
Hyatt recently launched its first-ever, dual-branded integrated campaign for the Hyatt Place and Hyatt House brands, “You’ve Come Too Far to Settle Now,” this month. Building on recognition of the Hyatt House brand this year by J.D. Power as “Highest in Guest Satisfaction among North American Upper Extended Stay Hotel Chains,” the campaign celebrates the unwavering drive shared by today’s modern business travelers who never settle for “good enough” in their careers and should never settle for “good enough” when it comes to their hotel stay.
The term “Hyatt” is used in this release for convenience to refer to Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) and/or one or more of its affiliates.
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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Forward-Looking Statements in this press release, which are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include statements about our plans, strategies, occupancy and ADR trends, market share, the number of properties we expect to open in the future, our expected adjusted SG&A expense, our estimated comparable systemwide RevPAR growth, maintenance and enhancement to existing properties capital expenditures, investments in new properties capital expenditures, depreciation and amortization expense and interest expense estimates, financial performance, prospects or future events and involve known and unknown risks that are difficult to predict. As a result, our actual results, performance or achievements may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "may," "could," "expect," "intend," "plan," "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "continue," "likely," "will," "would" and variations of these terms and similar expressions, or the negative of these terms or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by us and our management, are inherently uncertain. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, among others, general economic uncertainty in key global markets and a worsening of global economic conditions or low levels of economic growth; the rate and the pace of economic recovery following economic downturns; levels of spending in business and leisure segments as well as consumer confidence; declines in occupancy and average daily rate; limited visibility with respect to future bookings; loss of key personnel; hostilities, or fear of hostilities, including future terrorist attacks, that affect travel; travel-related accidents; natural or man-made disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, oil spills, nuclear incidents and global outbreaks of pandemics or contagious diseases or fear of such outbreaks; our ability to successfully achieve certain levels of operating profits at hotels that have performance guarantees in favor of our third party owners; the impact of hotel renovations; our ability to successfully execute our common stock repurchase program; the seasonal and cyclical nature of the real estate and hospitality businesses; changes in distribution arrangements, such as through Internet travel intermediaries; changes in the tastes and preferences of our customers, including the entry of new competitors in the lodging business; relationships with colleagues and labor unions and changes in labor laws; financial condition of, and our relationships with, third-party property owners, franchisees and hospitality venture partners; the possible inability of third-party owners, franchisees or development partners to access capital necessary to fund current operations or implement our plans for growth; risks associated with potential acquisitions and dispositions and the introduction of new brand concepts; the timing of acquisitions and dispositions; failure to successfully complete proposed transactions (including the failure to satisfy closing conditions or obtain required approvals); unforeseen terminations of our management or franchise agreements; changes in federal, state, local or foreign tax law; increases in interest rates and operating costs; foreign exchange rate fluctuations or currency restructurings; lack of acceptance of new brands or innovation; general volatility of the capital markets and our ability to access such markets; changes in the competitive environment in our industry, including as a result of industry consolidation, and the markets where we operate; cyber incidents and information technology failures; outcomes of legal or administrative proceedings; violations of regulations or laws related to our franchising business; and other risks discussed in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K, which filings are available from the SEC. We caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which are made only as of the date of this press release. We do not undertake or assume any obligation to update publicly any of these forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, new information or future events, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking statements, except to the extent required by applicable law. If we update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.
