SINGAPORE and SHANGHAI, China – H World Group Limited (NASDAQ: HTHT) (HK: 01179), one of the world’s leading hospitality groups, began 2025 with continued momentum in growth, asset-light transformation and brand loyalty, according to its first-quarter results released.
A Scalable Model for Mass-Market Hospitality
H World Group achieved 538 net hotel openings in the first quarter ended March 31, taking the total number of hotels in operation to 11,685. The number of rooms worldwide totaled 1,142,158, a 20% increase over last year.
The company now covers 1,394 cities across China, with plans to reach 2,000 cities in the future – from major hubs to the most remote and underserved regions.As of March 31, H World had a total of 2,888 hotels in its pipeline.
Advancing the Asset-Light Transformation
H World continued to advance its asset-light strategy in this quarter, with revenue from manachised and franchised hotels rising 21% year-over-year to RMB 2.5 billion (US$344 million). The company’s distinct manachise model — combining the scalability of franchising with the operational control of management — remains a key enabler of efficient, brand-consistent growth.
Loyalty Growth & Direct Booking Strength
As of the end of Q1, H Rewards membership reached 277 million, making it one of the largest loyalty platforms in the global hospitality industry. Direct booking from members accounted for over 65% of total reservations – a 5.4 percentage point increase year-on-year, reflecting growing digital engagement, improved margins, and greater customer lifetime value.
Ongoing Experience Upgrade
H World continued to advance its product upgrade initiatives to enhance consumer experience across core brands including Hanting, JI, and Orange. As of Q1:
- 40% of Hanting Hotels had reached version 3.5 or above
- 78% of Ji Hotels had reached Ji 4.0+
- 70% of Orange Hotels met the Orange 2.0 standard
The first quarter also marked rapid growth in the upper-midscale segment, which includes brands such as Intercity Hotel, Crystal Orange Hotel, MAXX by Steigenberger, and CitiGo Hotel, with a 36% year-on-year increase in operating hotels and a 22% expansion of the development pipeline.
Looking Ahead
We are confident we will achieve our full-year network expansion target of approximately 2,300 gross hotel openings. To achieve sustainable long-term growth, we will continue advancing our asset-light strategy, focusing on high-quality network expansion, enhancing brand positioning and ‘service excellence’, and strengthening sales capabilities centred around our H Rewards membership program. H World CEO Jin Hui
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1. The conversion of Renminbi (“RMB”) into United States dollars (“US$”) is based on the exchange rate of US$1.00=RMB7.2567 on March 31, 2025, as set forth in H.10 statistical release of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board and available at http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h10/hist/dat00_ch.htm.
