Hilton Worldwide announced plans to open nearly 40 hotels and resorts in Latin America by the end of 2016, increasing its portfolio in the region by approximately 60 percent within the next two years.

As of Q2 2014, Hilton Worldwide has nearly 12,000 rooms at 62 hotels and resorts open and welcoming guests throughout Latin America, including recent openings such as the 347-room Hilton Panama and the 105-room Hampton by Hilton Cali in Colombia. The company’s development pipeline is growing consistently with more than 6,000 rooms and more than 40 signed projects, with upcoming openings including the highly anticipated 298-room Hilton Barra, Rio de Janeiro and the 226-room DoubleTree by Hilton Santiago – Vitacura in Chile.

“Hilton Worldwide continues experiencing a period of remarkable global growth – as one of the industry’s largest and fastest growing hospitality companies. Latin America is a dominant player in this growth and we are committed to continuing this trend in the region,” said Tom Potter, senior vice president, Caribbean, Mexico and Latin America, for Hilton Worldwide.

While Hilton Worldwide plans to develop all of its brands throughout Latin America, there is significant interest in two of its focused service brands: Hampton Hotels and Hilton Garden Inn. Hampton Hotels has successfully demonstrated its benefits for multi-property opportunities as well as value-driven markets in key and secondary cities. Hilton Garden Inn is the ideal mid-market brand for developers and consumers alike, and in many locations, represents the major branded hotel in the city. These two brands currently represent approximately 75% of the Latin America development pipeline.

There is also continued interest in the company’s flagship Hilton Hotels & Resorts brand for full-service hotel management agreements in key gateway cities, and DoubleTree by Hilton for full-service hotel conversions.

Hilton Worldwide, www.hiltonworldwide.com