Cristiano Gonçalves has been appointed as Vice President, Development South America at Hyatt Hotels Corporation
Hyatt Hotels Corporation today announced the appointment of Cristiano Gonçalves as Vice President, Development dedicated to leading Hyatt's expansion in South America. Building on Hyatt's significant growth in the Latin America & Caribbean region over the last several years - growing to more than 80 hotels today - Gonçalves is responsible for leading a strategic expansion plan specific to South America while continuing to establish relationships with potential investors for new projects in markets that matter most to guests, customers and World of Hyatt members.
Gonçalves was appointed in February 2023 and reports to Camilo Bolaños, Hyatt's Senior Vice President, Development, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Gonçalves brings more than two decades of experience to Hyatt's development team, most recently overseeing the direct execution of several high-profile management and franchise agreements for InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) in Latin America and the Caribbean. Prior to IHG, Cristiano served as Hilton Worldwide's Vice President of Development, South America, where he created and executed an aggressive growth and development strategy and signed several new hotel agreements to expand the brand's portfolio key cities across South America.
Boasting the most active Latin America & Caribbean pipeline ever, Hyatt has more than doubled the number of luxury rooms, tripled the number of resorts, and quadrupled the number of lifestyle rooms in the region over the last five years, and recently celebrated the openings of new hotels and resort destinations in key cities across the region, further strengthening the brand's presence and capturing the region's strong leisure demand.
Cristiano Gonçalves is an alumnus of EHL Hospitality Business School – Class of 1999.