H World Group’s first-quarter results point to a broader hotel strategy built on franchising, loyalty engagement and measured expansion beyond China.
H World Group Limited, also referred to as H World Group, reported unaudited results for the quarter ended March 31, 2026, highlighting growth in its hotel network, partner-led operations and Asia-Pacific presence. The group opened 537 hotels in China during the quarter and said it remained on track for a full-year gross opening target of approximately 2,200 to 2,300 hotels. The figures show a hospitality company scaling primarily through a combination of brand reach, franchise relationships and digital customer engagement.
Hotel gross merchandise value reached RMB 26.4 billion in the quarter, an increase of 17.4% year on year, while revenue from manachised and franchised hotels rose 20.3% to RMB 3.0 billion. Adjusted EBITDA reached RMB 1.9 billion, up 24.2% from the same period a year earlier. H World’s blended average daily room rate in China increased 4.5% year on year, and blended revenue per available room rose 3.0%, according to the company’s results.
As of March 31, 2026, the worldwide network comprised 13,215 hotels and 1,303,563 rooms. H World China accounted for 13,095 hotels, while H World International operated 120 hotels outside China. In China, the group’s geographic coverage reached 1,461 cities, compared with 1,394 cities a year earlier, and its portfolio remained concentrated in economy and midscale accommodation, including HanTing Hotel and JI Hotel.
The quarter also underscored the group’s effort to build an Asia-Pacific platform alongside its China business. H World said Singapore was serving as its operational hub as it extended its footprint into Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. The first overseas JI Hotel 5.0 opened in Vientiane, Laos, during the quarter, and the company reported six hotels operating in the Asia-Pacific region as of March 31, with approximately 10 additional hotels in the pipeline.
Customer activity through H Rewards provided another measure of the group’s operating model. Room nights booked by members increased 10.7% year on year to 60 million in the first quarter, while H World said it would continue developing its membership programme, brand positioning, technology and artificial-intelligence capabilities. Taken together, the results present H World’s expansion as a combination of network density, partner participation and selective international growth rather than a strategy dependent solely on owned properties.
