Hilton Worldwide (HLT) 10-K2023 FY Annual report

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"). These statements include, but are not limited to, statements related to our expectations regarding the performance of our business, future financial results, liquidity and capital resources and other non-historical statements. In some cases, you can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "outlook," "believes," "expects," "forecasts," "potential," "continues," "may," "will," "should," "could," "seeks," "projects," "predicts," "intends," "plans," "estimates," "anticipates" or the negative version of these words or other comparable words. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes or results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements, including, among others, those described under "Part I—Item 1A. Risk Factors" and under "Summary of Risk Factors" below. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by law.

Except where the context requires otherwise, references in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to "Hilton," "the Company," "we," "us" and "our" refer to Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc., together with all of its consolidated subsidiaries. Except where the context requires otherwise, references to our "properties" refer to the hotels, resorts and timeshare properties that are managed, franchised, owned or leased by us, while references to "hotels" exclude timeshare properties.

On January 3, 2017, we completed the spin-offs of a portfolio of hotels and resorts, as well as our timeshare business, into two independent, publicly traded companies: Park Hotels & Resorts Inc. ("Park") and Hilton Grand Vacations Inc. ("HGV"), respectively, (the "spin-offs"). Hilton did not retain any interest in Park or HGV, but did enter into long-term management and franchise contracts with Park for the portfolio of hotels and resorts that it held at the time of the spin-offs and a 100-year license agreement with HGV for the timeshare business.

Refer to "Part II—Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Key Business and Financial Metrics Used by Management" for additional information on our financial and performance metrics.

We use our website at stories.hilton.com, our Facebook page at facebook.com/hiltonnewsroom and our corporate X (formerly Twitter) account at twitter.com/hiltonnewsroom as channels of distribution of company information. The information we post through these channels may be deemed material. Accordingly, investors should monitor these channels, in addition to following our press releases, our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and our webcasts. The contents of our website and social media channels are not, however, part of this report.

We operate our business through: (i) a management and franchise segment and (ii) an ownership segment, each of which is reported as a segment based on (a) delivering a similar set of products and services and (b) being managed separately given its distinct economic characteristics. The management and franchise segment includes all of the hotels we manage for third-party owners, as well as all franchised hotels that license our intellectual property ("IP"), including our brand names, trademarks and service marks, and to which we provide other contracted services, but the day-to-day services of the hotels are operated or managed by someone other than us. Revenues from this segment include: (i) management and franchise fees charged to third-party hotel owners; (ii) licensing fees from our strategic partners, including co-branded credit card providers, and HGV; and (iii) fees for managing hotels in our ownership segment. The ownership segment primarily derives revenues from nightly hotel room sales, food and beverage sales and other services at our consolidated owned and leased hotels. For more information regarding our segments, refer to "—Our Business—Management and Franchise" and "—Our Business—Ownership" below.

In addition to our current hotel portfolio, we are focused on the growth of our business by expanding our global hotel network through our development pipeline, which represents hotels that we expect to add to our system in the future. The following table summarizes our development activity:

We continue to drive customer loyalty, including participation in our Hilton Honors guest loyalty program, through: (i) our experience in the hospitality industry, which spans more than a century of customer service and entrepreneurship, and continues to evolve to meet the tastes, preferences and demands of our guests; (ii) our strong, well-defined brands that operate throughout the hospitality industry chain scales; (iii) our diverse, inclusive workforce, built to focus on providing exceptional customer experiences; and (iv) our commercial service offerings. We believe that satisfied customers will generate additional business at our properties, yielding strong overall hotel performance for us and our hotel owners. Strong results at our existing properties will encourage further development of additional hotels under our brands and conversions of existing hotels to our brands with both (i) owners who currently have properties in our system and (ii) new owners who sign management or franchise contracts with us in the future, which further supports our growth and future financial performance. We believe that our existing hotel system and development pipeline, which will require minimal capital investment from us, positions us to further improve and grow our business, allocate capital effectively and meet our customers' demands and preferences in the future.

We manage hotels and license our brands through our management and franchise segment. This segment generates its revenue primarily from fees charged to hotel owners under management and franchise contracts, as well as from fees associated with license agreements. We grow our management and franchise business by attracting owners to become a part of our system and participate in our commercial services to support their properties. Our management and franchise contracts provide significant return on investment for us as we earn and collect fees.

The initial terms of our management contracts are typically 20 to 30 years. In certain cases, we are both the franchisor and manager of the hotel, when we enter into a franchise contract in addition to the management contract, and, in these cases, we classify the hotel as managed in our system. Extension options for our management contracts are negotiated and vary, but typically are more prevalent in full service hotels. Generally, these contracts contain one or two extension options that are for either five or 10 years and can be exercised at our or the hotel owner's option or by mutual agreement, as specified by the contract.

Some of our management contracts provide early termination rights to hotel owners upon certain events, including the failure to meet certain financial or performance criteria. Performance test measures typically are based upon the hotel’s performance individually and/or in comparison to specified competitive hotels. We often have an optional cure right to pay an amount equal to the performance shortfall over a specified period, although in some cases our cure rights are limited.

We license our IP, including our brand names, trademarks and service marks, and our operating systems to hotel owners under franchise contracts. We do not own, manage or operate franchised properties, do not employ the individuals working at these properties and do not have any legal responsibility for the employees or the liabilities associated with operating these properties. We conduct periodic inspections of our franchised hotels to ensure that brand standards that we establish are maintained. For newly franchised hotels, including both new construction and conversions of existing hotels outside of our system, we approve the location, as well as the plans for the facilities, to ensure the hotels meet our brand standards. For existing franchised hotels, we provide franchisees with property improvement plans that must be completed to keep the hotels in compliance with our brand standards, so that they can remain in our hotel system.

Each franchisee pays us an application, initiation or other fee in conjunction with the inception of a franchise contract. Franchisees also pay a royalty fee, generally based on a percentage of the hotel’s monthly gross room revenue and, in some cases, may also include a percentage of gross food and beverage revenues and other revenues, as applicable. Additionally, franchised properties generally pay monthly program fees based on the underlying property's sales or usage, as reimbursement for the costs related to our: (i) advertising and marketing programs; (ii) internet, technology and reservation systems; and (iii) quality assurance programs. They are also responsible for various other fees and charges, including payments for participation in our Hilton Honors guest loyalty program, training, consultation and procurement of certain goods and services. We also earn license fees from license agreements with strategic partners, including co-branded credit card providers, and HGV. As of December 31, 2023, we franchised 6,679 hotels and resorts, including timeshare properties, with 914,974 rooms.

Our franchise contracts typically have initial terms of approximately 20 years for new hotels and approximately 10 to 20 years for hotels converting from hotels outside of our system. At the expiration of the initial term, we may have a contractual right or obligation to relicense the hotel to the franchisee for an additional term generally ranging from 10 to 15 years. We have the right to terminate a franchise contract upon specified events of default, including nonpayment of fees or noncompliance with brand standards. If a franchise contract is terminated by us because of a franchisee’s default, the franchisee is contractually required to pay us liquidated damages.

As a hotel owner and lessee, we focus on maximizing cost efficiency and profitability of the portfolio by, among other things, maximizing hotel revenues, implementing cost-effective labor management practices and systems and reducing fixed costs. Through our disciplined approach to hotel and asset management, we develop and execute on strategic plans for each of our hotels to enhance their competitive position and we invest in renovating guest rooms and public spaces and adding or enhancing meeting and retail space for properties where we believe such investments will improve profitability. As of December 31, 2023, the ownership segment included 51 hotels totaling 17,491 rooms, comprising 44 hotels that we leased, two hotels that were each leased by a consolidated variable interest entity ("VIE") and five hotels owned or leased by unconsolidated affiliates.

Hilton strives to create long-term value for all of our stakeholders and strengthen the resilience of our business while also advancing responsible travel and tourism globally through our ESG strategy, which is grounded in our Travel with Purpose goals. As one of the world’s largest hospitality companies, Hilton recognizes its responsibility to create positive environmental and social impact across our operations, supply chain and communities to ensure our hotel properties and surrounding communities remain vibrant and resilient for generations of travelers to come.

We continue to make progress towards our Travel With Purpose 2030 Goals, including: (i) environmental — aiming toward a net zero future with well-defined targets for watts (carbon and energy), water and waste; (ii) social — supporting and advancing careers, communities and responsible conduct; and (iii) governance — advancing and measuring our goals with a focus on integrity and transparency through our company policies and reporting mechanisms, our external partnerships and our public affairs work. Hilton was named to both the World and North America Dow Jones Sustainability Indices ("DJSI") for the seventh consecutive year and was recognized by IR Magazine with “Best ESG Reporting – Large Cap” in 2023 and earned a 2022 “Gold Medal” sustainability rating from EcoVadis, reflecting third-party recognition of Hilton's ESG efforts.

Our 2030 Goals align with the global Sustainable Development Goals ("SDGs") adopted by the United Nations in 2015 and are guided by our evaluation of the social and environmental issues that are critical to the long-term success of our business. Further, our ESG efforts are supported by a governance structure that is designed to ensure the objectives are an important part of our business and strategic priorities as we work towards our 2030 Goals. Our executive committee receives at least quarterly updates on our ESG programs and progress on our 2030 Goals. The Nominating & ESG Committee, one of the three standing committees of Hilton's board of directors, also receives quarterly reports on this progress, reviews and assesses our related strategy and makes recommendations to the board and management as appropriate. The board of directors also receives annual updates on progress towards our 2030 Goals.     

We engage with stakeholders to help align our ESG programs with the issues that matter the most to them in the context of our business. As part of this effort, we have completed an ESG materiality assessment, leveraging guidance from the Global Reporting Initiative ("GRI"), Sustainability Accounting Standards Board ("SASB") and the World Economic Forum. We determined that our stakeholders were most focused on climate action; employee development and well-being; an inclusive culture; employee and guest health, safety and security; human rights; and ethical business practices and regulatory compliance. These are topics aligned with our significant ESG risks, which are integrated in Hilton’s Enterprise Risk Management program and are reviewed by our executive committee and board of directors, including the Audit Committee, to inform enterprise-wide strategic planning.

LightStay, our proprietary and award-winning ESG management system, aligns with the criteria of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council ("GSTC") and is used to measure, manage and report many of Hilton's key environmental and social performance metrics, including, carbon emissions, energy, water, waste, volunteer hours, in-kind donations and efficiency projects. It provides owners with visibility into utility performance and allows Hilton to analyze and report collective progress toward achieving our 2030 Goals while delivering meaningful data and reporting to our customers.

The Hilton Global Foundation supports nonprofits and local community organizations that serve as partners to amplify our positive environmental and social impact around the world. The Hilton Global Foundation is our primary international philanthropic arm and is registered as a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

We remain committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in line with climate science. Hilton was the first global hospitality company to set science-based targets in 2018 that were validated by the Science Based Targets initiative ("SBTi"), in our effort to reduce carbon emissions in line with the goals outlined in the Paris Climate Agreement. As climate science has continued to evolve, we reevaluated our environmental impact 2030 Goals and set more ambitious targets in 2022. In 2022, SBTi verified our near-term targets (1.5°C by 2030) to cut carbon emissions intensity of our managed hotel portfolio by 75 percent and of our franchised hotel portfolio by 56 percent, with 2008 as our baseline. We continue to work toward our 2030 Goal of reducing water and waste intensity at the hotels we operate, including those that are owned, leased and managed, by 50 percent, with 2008 as our baseline. To achieve our reduction targets, in 2022, we partnered with a global leader in the field of sustainability and energy procurement to help map out a phased implementation strategy to help us make informed decisions and chart a path to achieving our energy reduction goals. To further strengthen our commitment to climate action, we have invested in two Fifth Wall Climate Technology Funds to accelerate the adoption of innovative decarbonization technologies. Although we believe that our environmental impact 2030 Goals are ambitious yet attainable, there can be no assurance that we will be able to meet them. As climate science continues to evolve we may further refine our environmental impact 2030 Goals. We evaluate our climate change risks and report annually on our progress, with our reporting prepared in accordance with the GRI standards, while integrating the recommendations of the SASB and the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures ("TCFD").

In 2023, we continued to make steady progress towards our 2030 Goals by engaging in partnerships and creating resources that will help facilitate sustainable development and meeting our customers evolving needs, including, but not limited to: (i) announcing our plans to install up to 20,000 Tesla Universal Wall Connectors at 2,000 hotels beginning in 2024 across North America; (ii) launching an LED lighting program in line with our LED global brand standard, to help make the transition to LED lighting easier and more cost-effective for owners; and (iii) developing sustainable design checklists for new construction, renovation, and conversion projects, as well as guidance on electrification and retrofits.

Our portfolio of properties are certified to ISO 9001 (Quality), ISO 14001 (Environmental) and ISO 50001 (Energy) standards, which marks 12 years of certification to ISO 14001 and ISO 9001 and nine years for ISO 50001. Further, in alignment with our science-based targets, we continue to take steps to increase our sourcing of renewable energy at our hotels around the world. In the Europe, Middle East and Africa ("EMEA") region, nearly 30 percent of the hotels we operated, which includes our owned and leased hotels, as well as our Watford and Glasgow corporate offices, were supplied with 100 percent renewable energy during 2023. In the U.S., we continue to have a renewable energy option for our managed hotels. Additionally, through our Meet with Purpose offering, we partner with our corporate customers to quantify and plan sustainable meetings by providing them with reporting that projects carbon emissions for their event, as well as options to reduce those emissions. For any remaining unavoidable emissions, Hilton offers customers the opportunity to purchase high quality, verified Gold Standard or Verified Carbon Standard carbon offsets from a third party to address the environmental footprint.

We continued our focus on our food waste reduction and food donation initiatives, with many of our managed hotels in the U.S. and EMEA piloting donation programs and analytical software to help reduce food waste and associated costs. We have made progress on our commitment to reduce single use plastics at our hotels, offering a Digital Key option at more than 80 percent of our hotels and, in 2023, we required all hotels to comply with the adoption of bulk amenities, such as soap, shampoo and conditioner in our hotel rooms.

We have achieved the following reductions in environmental impact since 2008:

We primarily generate carbon emissions from the operation of our hotels. The increases in occupancy at our hotels during the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, including the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, were directly

The data in the following tables, which have been reviewed by an independent third party, reflect the key sustainability metrics that we emphasize for the hotels we operate, as well as metrics recommended by the SASB within their Hotel & Lodging and Restaurant Standards:

With a presence in 126 countries and territories, we use our global scale to be an engine of opportunity by focusing on creating learning and career growth opportunities, positively impacting our communities and promoting responsible, inclusive conduct across our value chain operations.

Our social impact 2030 Goals include: (i) providing 5 million learning and career growth opportunities for our employees and our communities with a focus on underrepresented groups; (ii) impacting 20 million community members through local support, disaster relief and economic opportunities; and (iii) promoting responsible, inclusive conduct across 100 percent of our value chain operations.

Through the Hilton Global Foundation, we partner with the International Youth Foundation by providing our Passport to Success Concierge program, an online course that is free to youth around the globe who are interested in building the core skills for a career in travel and tourism. Since its launch in 2021, over 57,000 youth and Hilton employees have accessed the program through 2023. Further, we partner with organizations around the globe supporting hospitality career development. The Hilton

Hilton also remains committed to combating human trafficking, and we require all hotel-based employees to complete an annual training on identifying signs of trafficking. We partner with organizations such as It’s a Penalty and PACT (formerly ECPAT), to help prevent trafficking through the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, World Travel and Tourism Council, American Hotel & Lodging Association ("AHLA") and United Kingdom ("U.K.") Stop Slavery Hotel Industry Network. The Hilton Global Foundation has committed to support the AHLA Foundation's No Room for Trafficking ("NRFT") Survivor Fund, which aims to equip community-based organizations to engage and support trafficking survivors.

During 2023, Hilton and the Hilton Global Foundation supported our hotel teams and surrounding communities through disasters and crises, including the Türkiye and Morocco earthquakes, Canada and Maui Wildfires and the Middle Eastern humanitarian crisis. This included donating to organizations at the frontlines of the crises, supporting the delivery of meals, medical care and other basic needs, as well as support for the families of impacted employees through Hilton's third-party operated Team Member Assistance Fund ("TMAF"). Hilton's TMAF also supports employees experiencing undue financial hardship due to unexpected personal circumstances and larger crisis situations. Hilton employees, as well as individuals working at managed and franchised hotels who are not employed by Hilton, can apply for financial assistance when impacted by disaster and extreme hardship. In 2023, the TMAF provided assistance grants to over 3,400 individuals.

During 2023, our employees around the world reported approximately 377,000 volunteer hours in their local communities, including during our Travel with Purpose Week, an annual week of volunteering.

In addition to collaboration across our industry and within the business community, we are focused on achieving change by leveraging the scale of our supply chain. To that end, our Supplier Diversity Program engages women-, minority-, veteran-, disabled- and LGTBQ+ owned businesses in sourcing opportunities across the Hilton organization.

As of December 31, 2023, we employed or managed approximately 178,000 individuals at our owned, leased and managed hotels and corporate offices. There were approximately 288,000 additional individuals employed by third-party owners working at our franchised properties.

Our human capital management strategy focuses on attracting, developing and retaining the best talent in the industry, and our executive committee reviews talent strategy and succession plans on a quarterly basis to assess current and future talent needs. We want to build a strong employee-centered culture that creates connectivity, camaraderie and trust among all employees, which then supports our employees to deliver positive experiences to guests at our hotels. Hilton's commitment to building strong culture through an unwavering focus on creating a workplace that is inclusive, offers strong growth opportunities and is driven by purpose was recognized by Fortune magazine and Great Place to Work and earned Hilton the top spot as their 2023 #1 World's Best Workplace.

While our hiring levels in 2023 were higher than they were before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and recruiting volume is normalizing in regions where the labor market has recovered from the pandemic, recruiting challenges continue in select regions and for select roles. We continue to review our compensation policies to maintain competitiveness and invest in employee benefits programs and enhance our recruiting strategies to tap into new pools of talent.

Our benefits and programs include paid time off, parental leave, adoption assistance, subsidized health insurance, education assistance and flexible work arrangements and Go Hilton travel programs, which make discounted rooms available to hotel and corporate employees, as well as their families and friends.

Our medical and mental health care programs include a global platform focused on caregiving that provides resources for employee self-care, as well as enabling employees to care for others, including sick, disabled or elderly family members, children and pets; a concierge service supporting eligible employees with logistical and administrative tasks related to caregiving; education, training and resources on substance use disorders to eligible employees; an Employee Assistance Program; and parental and bereavement leave and education resources for expecting and new parents.

We regularly survey our employees to monitor levels of engagement, trust, and management effectiveness, among other targeted topics, and use their feedback to inspire program enhancements and new offerings. We strive to maximize employee retention and minimize attrition with these and other measures. Approximately 32 percent of our U.S. employees have been with Hilton for at least 10 years.

We are committed to an equitable and inclusive workforce that embraces all ages, gender, sexual orientation, nationalities, ethnicities, disabilities, military and veteran status, cultures and viewpoints. Our leaders are committed to our diversity and inclusion efforts, and we hold them accountable through our organizational objectives that measure their performance against our commitments.

As of December 31, 2023, the global workforce that we employ or manage was approximately 43 percent women. Globally, corporate leadership was approximately 42 percent women and hotel leadership was approximately 24 percent women. As of December 31, 2023, in the U.S., our workforce was approximately 72 percent ethnically diverse, with U.S. corporate leadership being approximately 20 percent ethnically diverse and U.S. hotel leadership being approximately 29 percent ethnically diverse. As of December 31, 2023, our board of directors, excluding management directors, was 50 percent women and 25 percent ethnically diverse.

As part of our commitment to an inclusive environment, we offer Team Member Resource Groups to provide support and offer networking and development opportunities, Pathway Programs to help foster economic mobility for historically underrepresented talent and support diversity efforts across our organization and annual trainings on unconscious bias, inclusive culture, preventing human trafficking and anti-harassment.

Hilton offers competitive pay and benefits to its employees, including a variety of compensation programs and comprehensive benefit programs. We regularly review gender and diversity pay parity among our employees as part of our ongoing talent processes. Through our employee stock purchase plan, eligible employees can purchase Hilton stock through after-tax payroll deductions at a 15 percent discount from the market stock price.

As of December 31, 2023, approximately 30 percent of people employed or managed by us globally and approximately 40 percent of people working in the U.S. were covered by various collective bargaining agreements that generally address pay rates, working hours, other terms and conditions of employment, certain employee benefits and orderly settlement of labor disputes.

Our career development approach emphasizes customized experiences so that employees can follow a training and career path best suited to their goals including a wide array of general business, industry or function-specific technical skills and leadership development courses and programs.

Our GM Academy curriculum is centered on nine core General Manager ("GM") business capabilities, some of which include leadership and people management, asset management, customer engagement and commercial performance. Additionally, Hilton's Signature Leadership Development programs focus on building effective leaders across the enterprise to grow our leadership bench strength. These programs provide opportunities for participants to develop key competencies, network with and learn from senior leaders and enhance business acumen.

As a core underpinning of our entire organization, our ethics and compliance program is overseen by our board of directors, which expects all Hilton employees to conduct themselves at the highest standards with respect to all ethics and compliance matters. Our Code of Conduct establishes a set of global business principles, with our compliance organization, training, risk management and monitoring activities tailored to address unique risks by geography, business line, function and level. Our Code of Conduct is supported by robust compliance policies addressing risk areas such as corruption, trade sanctions, insider trading, privacy, confidential information, antitrust and escalation of concerns. Our legal and compliance training program, which is an annual requirement for all of our employees, conveys consistent compliance standards across the organization in formats designed to target different knowledge levels, learning styles and functional needs. Our annual training

In governing the physical safety of our properties and teams, to help ensure the safety and security of our employees and guests, we constantly monitor threats and incidents around the world through online tools and external networks and partnerships; support our properties globally with crisis alert communications, crisis plans and area crisis teams; provide employees with safety and security training resources; and conduct safety and security audits annually using a risk-based approach.

Our legal compliance team administers a third-party risk management program so that we understand the qualifications, reputation and associations of third parties with whom we transact, particularly third parties who interface with government officials and third parties who act in Hilton’s name, such as owners of our hotels. The third-party risk management program includes due diligence, education materials for third parties, ongoing monitoring of relationships and appropriate contract audit and termination rights. Our legal compliance team also monitors a comprehensive and confidential reporting tool to assist management and employees in addressing fraud, abuse and other misconduct in the workplace. The Audit Committee of our board of directors receives regular updates from our legal compliance team on third-party risk and information from our confidential reporting tool.

We encounter active and robust competition as a hotel and resort manager, franchisor, owner and lessee. Competition in the hospitality industry is based on several criteria, generally including: the attractiveness of the facility; location; level of service; quality of accommodations; amenities; food and beverage options and outlets; public and meeting spaces and other guest services; consistency of service; room rate; brand reputation; and the ability to earn and redeem loyalty program points through a global system. Our properties and brands compete with other hotels, resorts, motels, inns and other accommodation rental services in their respective geographic markets or customer segments, including facilities owned by local interests, individuals, national and international chains, institutions, investment and pension funds and real estate investment trusts ("REITs"). We believe that our capabilities as a multi-branded manager, franchisor, owner and lessee of hotels with an associated global, system-wide guest loyalty program and commercial platform helps us continue to maintain our position as one of the largest and most geographically diverse hospitality companies in the world.

Our principal competitors include other branded and independent hotel operating companies, national and international hotel brands and ownership companies. While local and independent brand competitors vary, on a global scale, our primary competitors are Accor S.A., Choice Hotels International, Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Intercontinental Hotel Group, Marriott International, Radisson Hotel Group and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.

The hospitality industry is seasonal in nature. The periods during which our properties experience higher or lower levels of demand vary from property to property, depending principally upon their location, type of property and competitive mix within the specific location. Based on historical results, we generally expect our revenues to be lower in the first quarter of each year than in each of the three subsequent quarters.

The hospitality industry is cyclical, and demand generally follows, on a lagged basis, key macroeconomic indicators. There is a history of increases and decreases in the development and supply of and demand for hotel rooms, occupancy levels and room rates realized by hotel owners through economic cycles. The combination of changes in economic conditions and in the supply of hotel rooms can result in significant volatility in results for owners and managers of hotel properties. The costs of running a hotel, including personnel costs, rent, property taxes, insurance and utilities, tend to be more fixed than variable. As a result of such fixed costs, in a negative economic environment, the rate of decline in earnings can be higher than the rate of decline in revenues.

In the highly competitive hospitality industry in which we operate, trademarks, service marks, trade names, logos and patents are very important to the success of our business. We have a significant number of trademarks, service marks, trade names, logos, patents and pending registrations and expend significant resources each year on surveillance, registration and

Our business is subject to various foreign and U.S. federal and state laws and regulations, including laws and regulations that govern the offer and sale of franchises, many of which impose substantive requirements on franchise contracts and require that certain materials be registered before franchises can be offered or sold in a particular jurisdiction.

In addition, a number of states regulate the activities of hospitality properties and restaurants, including safety and health standards, as well as the sale of liquor at such properties, by requiring licensing, registration, disclosure statements and compliance with specific standards of conduct. Operators of hospitality properties also are subject to laws governing their relationship with employees, including minimum wage requirements, overtime, working conditions and work permit requirements. Our franchisees are responsible for their own compliance with laws, including with respect to their employees, minimum wage requirements, overtime, working conditions and work permit requirements. Compliance with, or changes in, these laws could reduce the revenue and profitability of our properties and could otherwise adversely affect our operations.

We also manage hotels with casino gaming operations as part of or adjacent to the hotels. However, with the exception of casinos at certain properties in Puerto Rico and Egypt, third parties manage and operate the casinos. We hold and maintain the casino gaming license and manage the casinos located in Puerto Rico and Egypt and employ third-party compliance consultants and service providers. As a result, our business operations at these facilities are subject to the licensing and regulatory control of the local regulatory agency responsible for gaming licenses and operations in those jurisdictions.

For additional information on government regulation, including environmental regulations and requirements, refer to "Part I—Item 1A. Risk Factors."

U.S. managed hotels and foreign managed and franchised hotels are permitted to participate in certain of our insurance programs by mutual agreement with the hotel owners; however, if they do not participate in our insurance programs, the hotel owners must purchase insurance programs consistent with our requirements. Generally, U.S. franchised hotels are not permitted to participate in our insurance programs, but rather the hotel owners must purchase insurance programs consistent with our requirements. In addition, our management and franchise contracts typically include provisions requiring the hotel owner to indemnify us against losses arising from the design, development and operation of such hotel.

Most of our insurance policies are written with self-insured retentions or deductibles that are common in the insurance market for similar risks, and we believe such risks are prudent for us to assume. Our third-party insurance policies provide coverage for claim amounts that exceed our self-insurance retentions or deductible obligations. We maintain insurance coverage for general liability, property, business interruption, terrorism and other risks with respect to our business for all of our owned and leased hotels, and we maintain workers' compensation or equivalent coverage for all of our employees. We also are self-insured for health coverages for some of our U.S. and Puerto Rico employees, which include those working at our corporate operations and managed hotels, with third-party insurance protection for costs over specified thresholds.

We file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. Our SEC filings are available to the public over the internet at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Our SEC filings are also available free of charge on our website at ir.hilton.com as soon as reasonably practicable after they are filed with or furnished to the SEC. Our website and the information contained on or connected to that site are not incorporated into this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Our business is subject to a number of business, financial and operating risks inherent to the hospitality industry, including:

Any of these factors could (i) increase our costs or (ii) limit or reduce the prices we are able to charge (a) third-party hotel owners for providing management and franchise services or (b) hotel customers for hospitality products and services, or (iii) otherwise affect our ability to maintain existing properties or develop new properties. As a result, any of these factors can reduce our revenues and limit opportunities for growth.

Macroeconomic conditions, geopolitical activity, public health concerns and other factors beyond our control can reduce demand for hospitality products and services, including demand for rooms at our hotels. These factors include, but are not limited to:

Any one or more of these factors could limit or reduce overall demand for our products and services or could negatively affect our revenue sources, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Consumer demand for our services is closely linked to the performance of the general economy and is sensitive to business and personal discretionary spending levels. Decreased global or regional demand for hospitality products and services can be especially pronounced during periods of economic contraction or low levels of economic growth, and the recovery period in our industry may lag overall economic improvement. Declines in demand for our products and services due to general economic conditions could negatively affect our business by limiting the amount of fee revenues we are able to generate from our managed and franchised properties and decreasing the revenues and profitability of our owned and leased properties. In addition, many of the expenses associated with our services, including personnel costs, interest, rent, property taxes, insurance and utilities, are relatively fixed. During a period of overall economic weakness, if we are unable to meaningfully decrease these costs as demand for our services decreases, our business operations, financial performance, results and prospects for future growth may be adversely affected.

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected the global economy and strained the hospitality industry due to travel restrictions and advisories, stay-at-home directives, limitations on public gatherings and modified work arrangements, all of which resulted in cancellations and reduced travel around the world, as well as complete and partial suspensions of certain hotel operations. COVID-19 or outbreaks of other contagious diseases or other adverse public health developments could negatively affect future results. As an example, the impact of COVID-19 and the related restrictions in China during 2022 limited demand in that market. The long-term effects of the pandemic on our business and the travel industry at large remain uncertain. The uncertain future impact of COVID-19 or other contagious diseases, including their effect on the ability or desire of people to travel and use our hotel properties for lodging, food and beverage and other services, may negatively affect our results, operations, outlook, plans, growth, cash flows and liquidity.

The steps we took in 2020 in response to the pandemic to reduce operating costs for us and our owners, including temporarily reducing compensation, reducing our workforce and furloughing a substantial number of our employees, negatively affected our ability to attract and retain employees. Some hotels faced challenges recruiting to full staffing levels, which in some cases negatively affected guest experience and loyalty and, in turn, certain hotel results. We could still experience long-term impacts on our operating costs as a result of attempts to counteract future outbreaks of COVID-19 or other viruses through, for example, costs incurred to provide necessary enhanced health and hygiene requirements or other such measures in one or more regions.

The COVID-19 pandemic also had a negative impact on our partners, including third-party owners of our properties, third-party service providers, travel agencies, suppliers and other vendors. In particular, third-party owners of our hotels experienced financing difficulties and significant declines in revenues during the pandemic, thereby making it more difficult for them to maintain their hotels and service their indebtedness.

The segments of the hospitality industry in which we operate are subject to intense competition. Our principal competitors are other operators of luxury, full-service and focused-service hotels, including other major hospitality chains with well-established and recognized brands. We also compete against smaller hotel chains, independent and local hotel owners and operators, home and apartment sharing services and timeshare operators. If we are unable to compete successfully, our revenues or profits may decline.

We face competition for individual guests, group reservations and conference business at our hotels. We compete for these customers based primarily on brand name recognition and reputation, as well as location, rates for hotel rooms, food and beverage and other services, property size and availability of guest rooms and conference and meeting space, quality of the accommodations and technology provided, previous customer experience and satisfaction, amenities and the ability to earn and redeem loyalty program points. Our competitors may have greater commercial, financial and marketing resources and more efficient technology platforms, which could allow them to improve their properties and expand and improve their marketing efforts in ways that could affect our ability to compete for guests effectively, or they could offer a type of lodging product that customers find attractive but that we do not offer.

We compete to enter into management and franchise contracts. Our ability to compete effectively is based primarily on the value and quality of our management services, brand name recognition and reputation, our access to and willingness to invest capital or provide other incentives or inducements, availability of suitable properties to maintain brand variety across geographic areas, the overall economic terms of our contracts and the economic advantages to the third-party hotel owner of retaining our management services and/or using our brands. If the properties that we manage or franchise perform less successfully than those of our competitors, if we are unable to offer terms as favorable as those offered by our competitors or if the availability of suitable properties is limited, we may not be able to compete effectively for new management or franchise contracts.

Our brands are among our most important assets. Our ability to attract and retain guests depends, in part, on the public recognition of our brands and their associated reputation. In addition, the success of our hotel owners’ businesses and the amount of payments to us for the assets and services we provide them may depend on the strength and reputation of our brands. If our brands become obsolete or consumers view them as unfashionable, unsustainable or lacking in consistency and quality, we may be unable to attract guests to our hotels and may further be unable to attract or retain our hotel owners to use our management and franchise services.

Changes in ownership or management practices, perceptions of our ESG practices, perception of guest or employee health or safety, the occurrence of accidents or injuries, cyber-attacks, security breaches, natural disasters, crime, failure of suppliers, franchisees or business partners to comply with relevant regulations and contractual requirements relating to a variety of issues including environmental, human rights and labor, individual guest, owner or employee notoriety or similar events at our hotels and resorts can harm our reputation, create adverse publicity and cause a loss of consumer confidence in our business. Because of the global nature of our brands and the broad expanse of our business and hotel locations, events occurring in one location could negatively affect the reputation and operations of otherwise successful individual locations. In addition, the expansion of social media has compounded the potential scope of negative publicity by increasing the speed and expanse of information dissemination. Many social media platforms publish content immediately and without filtering or verifying the accuracy of that content. A negative incident or the perception of occurrence of a negative incident at one hotel could have far-reaching effects, including lost sales, customer boycotts, loss of development opportunities and employee difficulties. Such incidents have in the past and could in the future subject us to legal actions, including litigation, governmental investigations or penalties, along with the resulting additional adverse publicity. A perceived decline in the quality of our brands or damage to our reputation could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our business depends on our ability to: (i) establish and maintain long-term, positive relationships with third-party hotel owners; and (ii) enter into new, and renew, management and franchise contracts. Although our management and franchise contracts are typically long-term arrangements, hotel owners may be able to terminate the contracts under certain circumstances, including the failure to meet specified financial or performance criteria. Our ability to meet these financial and performance criteria is subject to, among other things, risks common to the overall hospitality industry, including factors outside of our control. In addition, negative pricing trends in the industry for management and franchise and related fees more broadly could adversely affect our ability to negotiate with hotel owners. If we fail to maintain and renew existing management and franchise contracts or enter into new contracts on favorable terms, we may be unable to expand our presence and our business, and our financial condition and results of operations may suffer.

Growth of our business is affected, and may potentially be limited, by factors influencing real estate development generally, including site availability, financing availability and cost, planning, zoning and other local approvals. In addition, market factors such as projected room occupancy, changes in growth in demand for customers compared to projected supply, geographic area restrictions in management and franchise contracts, costs and availability of construction labor and materials and anticipated room rate structure, if not managed effectively by our third-party hotel owners could adversely affect the growth of our management and franchise business.

Many of our third-party hotel owners pledge their properties as collateral for loans entered into at the time of development, purchase or refinancing. If our third-party hotel owners are unable to repay or refinance maturing indebtedness on favorable

Hotel owners with financial difficulties have been and may continue to be unable or unwilling to pay us amounts that we are entitled to under our existing contracts on a timely basis or at all. Likewise, if we or our hotel owners or franchisees are unable to access capital to make physical improvements to our hotels, the quality of our hotels may suffer, which may negatively impact our reputation and guest loyalty, and our performance may suffer as a result.

Substantially all of our management and franchise contracts, as well as our license agreement with HGV, require third-party property owners to comply with quality and reputation standards of our brands, which include requirements related to the physical condition, use of technology, safety standards and appearance of the properties, as well as the service levels provided by hotel employees. These standards may evolve with customer preference, or we may introduce new requirements over time. If our property owners fail to make investments necessary to maintain or improve the properties and related operations in accordance with our standards, or based on customer demand more broadly, guest preference for our brands could diminish. In addition, if third-party property owners fail to observe standards or meet their contractual requirements, we may elect to exercise our termination rights, which would eliminate revenues from these properties and cause us to incur expenses related to terminating these contracts. We may be unable to find suitable or offsetting replacements for any individually terminated hotels or broader third-party owner relationships.

Our management and franchise contracts require us and our hotel owners to comply with operational and performance conditions that are subject to interpretation and could result in disagreements. Any dispute with a property owner could increase our costs even if the outcome is ultimately in our favor. We cannot predict the outcome of any arbitration or litigation, the effect of any negative judgment against us or the amount of any settlement that we may enter into with any third party. Furthermore, specific to our industry, some courts have applied principles of agency law and related fiduciary standards to managers of third-party hotel properties, which means that property owners may assert the right to terminate contracts even where the contracts do not expressly provide for termination. Our fees from any property permitted to be terminated would be eliminated, and accordingly, may negatively affect our results of operations.

As of December 31, 2023, we had 3,274 hotels in our development pipeline, which we define as hotels under construction or approved for development under one of our brands. The commitments of owners and developers with whom we have contracts are subject to conditions, and the eventual development and construction of our development pipeline, in particular for hotels not currently under construction, is subject to risks, including, in certain cases, the owner's or developer's ability to obtain adequate financing and governmental or regulatory approvals. Unfavorable economic conditions also could affect our ability to enter into management and franchise contracts with potential third-party owners of our hotels, who may be unable to obtain financing or face other delays or cost pressures in developing hotel projects. As a result, some properties in our development pipeline have entered our system later than we anticipated, new hotels have entered our pipeline at a slower rate than in the past and some hotels under development never enter our system at all, thereby negatively affecting our overall growth.

We have launched and may continue to launch new hotel products, brands and/or concepts or execute brand expansions into new markets, including international markets. These products may not be accepted by hotel owners, franchisees or customers and we cannot guarantee the level of acceptance any new brand will have in the development and consumer marketplaces. If new branded hotel products, non-hotel branded concepts or brand expansions are not as successful as we anticipate, we may not recover the costs we incurred in their development or expansion, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our investments in owned and leased real property (including through joint ventures) subject us to various risks that may not be applicable to managed or franchised properties, including:

The negative effect on profitability and cash flow from declines in revenues is more pronounced in owned and leased properties because we, as the owner or lessee, bear the risk of the costs required to own and operate a hotel. Further, during times of economic distress, declining demand and declining earnings often result in declining asset values, and we or our joint ventures may not be able to sell properties or exit leasing arrangements on favorable terms or at all. Accordingly, we may not be able to adjust our owned and leased property portfolio promptly in response to changes in economic or other conditions.

We depend heavily upon our information technology systems in the conduct of our business. We develop, own and license or otherwise contract for sophisticated technology systems and services for property management, procurement, finance, human resources, reservations, distribution and the operation of the Hilton Honors guest loyalty program. Such systems are subject to, among other things, damage or interruption from power outages, computer and telecommunications failures, computer viruses, third-party criminal activity including "ransomware" or other malware and natural and man-made disasters. Although we have a

We rely on third parties for the performance of a significant portion of our information technology functions worldwide. In particular, our loyalty platform, property management, reservation and distribution systems rely on data communications networks and systems operated by unaffiliated third parties and cloud providers. The success of our business depends in part on maintaining our relationships with these third parties and their continuing ability to perform these functions and services in a timely and satisfactory manner. If we experience a loss or disruption in the provision of any of these functions or services, or they are not performed in a satisfactory manner, we may have difficulty in finding alternate providers on terms favorable to us, in a timely manner or at all, and our business could be adversely affected.

We rely on certain vendors for traditional software and cloud/software-as-a-service operations to maintain and periodically upgrade many of these systems and applications so that they can continue to support our business. The software programs supporting many of our systems were licensed to us by independent software developers. The inability of these developers or us to continue to maintain and upgrade these information systems and software programs would disrupt or reduce the efficiency of our operations if we were unable to convert to alternate systems in an efficient and timely manner.

We are vulnerable to various risks and uncertainties associated with our websites and mobile applications, including changes in required technology interfaces, website and mobile application downtime and other technical failures, unexpected costs and changes and issues as we upgrade our website software and mobile applications. Additional risks include computer malware, changes in applicable federal, state and international regulations, security breaches, legal claims related to our website operations, e-commerce fulfillment and other consumer privacy concerns. Our failure to successfully respond to these risks and uncertainties could reduce website and mobile application sales and have a material adverse effect on our business or results of operations.

From time to time we and our third-party service providers experience cyber-attacks, attempted and actual breaches of our or their information technology systems and networks or similar events, which could result in a loss of sensitive business or customer information, systems interruption or the disruption of our operations. The techniques that are used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service or sabotage systems change frequently and may be difficult to detect for long periods of time, and despite our deployment of cyber-attack prevention and detection techniques, we are accordingly unable to anticipate and prevent all data security incidents. We have in the past been subject to cyber-attacks and expect that we will be subject to additional cyber-attacks in the future and may experience data breaches.

Even if we are fully compliant with legal standards and contractual or other requirements, we still may not be able to prevent security breaches involving sensitive data. The sophistication of efforts by hackers to gain unauthorized access to information systems has continued to increase in recent years and may continue to do so at an accelerating pace as criminals leverage generative artificial intelligence-based technologies and services. Breaches, thefts, losses or fraudulent uses of customer, employee or company data could cause consumers to lose confidence in the security of our websites, mobile applications, point of sale systems and other information technology systems and, as a result of this loss in confidence, choose not to purchase from us. Such security breaches also could expose us to risks of data loss, business disruption, litigation, fines, regulatory charges and other costs or liabilities, any of which could adversely affect our business.

If we fail to keep pace with rapidly evolving technological developments in artificial intelligence, our competitive position and business results may suffer. The introduction of these technologies, particularly generative AI, into new or existing offerings may also result in new or expanded risks and liabilities, including due to enhanced governmental or regulatory scrutiny, litigation, copyright infringement, compliance issues, ethical concerns, security risks relating to private and/or confidential information, as well as other factors that could adversely affect our business, reputation, and financial results. In addition, it is possible that artificial intelligence and machine learning-technology could, unbeknownst to us, be improperly utilized by employees while carrying out their responsibilities. The use of artificial intelligence can lead to unintended consequences, including generating content that appears correct but is factually inaccurate, misleading or otherwise flawed, or that results in unintended biases and discriminatory outcomes, which could harm our reputation and business and expose us to risks related to inaccuracies or errors in the output of such technologies.

We are subject to various risks and costs associated with the collection, handling, storage and transmission of sensitive information, including costs related to compliance with U.S. and foreign data collection and privacy laws and other contractual obligations, as well as risks associated with the compromise of our systems collecting such information. Many jurisdictions, including the European Union ("E.U."), the U.K., China and certain states within the U.S., have passed laws that require companies to meet specific requirements regarding the handling of personal data. We collect internal and customer data, including credit card numbers and other personally identifiable information for a variety of important business purposes, including managing our workforce, providing requested products and services and maintaining guest preferences to enhance customer service and for marketing and promotion purposes. We could be exposed to fines, penalties, restrictions, litigation, reputational harm or other expenses, or other adverse effects on our business, due to failure to protect personal data and other sensitive information or failure to maintain compliance with the various U.S. and foreign data collection and privacy laws or with credit card industry standards or other applicable data security standards.

In addition, U.S. states and the federal government have enacted additional laws and regulations to protect consumers against identity theft. These laws and similar laws in other jurisdictions have increased the costs of doing business, and failure on our part to implement appropriate safeguards or to detect and provide prompt notice of unauthorized access as required by some of these laws could subject us to potential claims for damages and other remedies. If we were required to pay any significant amounts in satisfaction of claims under these laws, or if we were forced to cease our business operations for any length of time as a result of our inability to comply fully with any such law, our business, operating results and financial condition could be adversely affected.

We may consider strategic and complementary acquisitions of and investments in other hotel or hospitality brands, businesses, properties or other assets. Acquisitions or investments in brands, businesses, properties or assets as well as third-party alliances are subject to risks that could affect our business, including risks related to:

We may not actually realize any anticipated benefits from such acquisitions, investments or alliances. We may also experience challenges from regulatory authorities in connection with our acquisitions and investments, including from antitrust authorities who are increasingly scrutinizing such transactions, and which may lead to unforeseen expenditures or which may block, delay or impose undesirable conditions on our acquisitions and investments. In addition, the success of any acquisition or investment also will depend, in part, on our ability to integrate the acquisition or investment with our existing operations. We also may divest certain properties or assets, and any such divestments may yield lower than expected returns or otherwise fail to achieve the benefits we expect. In some circumstances, sales of properties or other assets may result in losses. Upon sales of properties or assets, we may become subject to contractual indemnity obligations, incur material tax liabilities or, as a result of required debt repayment, face a shortage of liquidity. Finally, any acquisitions, investments or dispositions could demand significant attention from management that would otherwise be available for business operations, which could harm our business.

We rely on a variety of direct marketing techniques, including telemarketing, email and social media marketing and postal mailings, and we are subject to various laws and regulations in the U.S. and internationally that govern marketing and advertising practices. Any further restrictions in laws and court or agency interpretations of such laws, such as the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, the Telemarketing Sales Rule, the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, various U.S. state laws, such as the California Privacy Rights Act, international data protection laws, such as the E.U. General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR"), and laws limiting the cross-border transfer of data that govern these activities or new laws that become effective in the future could adversely affect current or planned marketing activities and cause us to change our marketing strategy. If this occurs, we may not be able to develop adequate alternative marketing strategies, which could affect our ability to maintain relationships with our customers and acquire new customers. We also obtain access to names of potential customers from travel service providers or other companies, and we market to some individuals on these lists directly or through other companies’ marketing materials. If access to these lists were prohibited or otherwise restricted, our ability to develop new customers and introduce them to products could be impaired.

A significant percentage of hotel rooms for individual guests are booked through internet travel intermediaries, to whom we commit to pay various commissions and transaction fees for sales of our rooms through their systems. Search engines and peer-to-peer inventory sources also provide online travel services that compete with our business. If these bookings increase, these hospitality intermediaries may be able to obtain higher commissions or other significant concessions from us or our franchisees. These hospitality intermediaries also may reduce bookings at our hotel properties by de-ranking our hotels in search results on their platforms, and other online providers may divert business away from our hotels. Although our contracts with many hospitality intermediaries limit transaction fees for hotels, there can be no assurance that we will be able to renegotiate these contracts upon their expiration with terms as favorable as the provisions that existed before the expiration, replacement or renegotiation. Moreover, hospitality intermediaries generally employ aggressive marketing strategies, including expending significant resources for online and television advertising campaigns to drive consumers to their websites. As a result, consumers may develop brand loyalties to the intermediaries’ brands, websites and reservations systems rather than to the Hilton brands and systems. If this happens, our business and profitability may be significantly affected over time as shifting customer loyalties divert bookings away from our websites, which increases costs to hotels in our system. Internet travel intermediaries also have been subject to regulatory scrutiny, particularly in Europe. The outcome of this regulatory activity may affect our ability to compete for direct bookings through our own internet channels.

In addition, although internet travel intermediaries have traditionally competed to attract individual leisure consumers or transient business rather than group business for meetings and events, in recent years they have expanded their business to include marketing to group business and also to corporate transient business. If that growth continues, it could both divert group and corporate transient business away from our hotels and also increase our cost of sales for group and corporate transient business. Consolidation of internet travel intermediaries, or the entry of major internet companies into the internet travel bookings business, also could divert bookings away from our websites and increase our hotels' cost of sales.

We manage a global reservation system that communicates reservations to our branded hotels when made by individuals directly, either online, by telephone to our call centers, through devices via our mobile application, or through intermediaries like travel agents, internet travel websites and other distribution channels. The cost, speed, efficacy and efficiency of the reservation system are important aspects of our business and are important considerations of hotel owners in choosing to affiliate with our brands. Any disruption to the continuity of our reservation system, including any failure to maintain or upgrade such system, may adversely affect our ability to serve customers effectively and support reservations at our hotels.

We manage the Hilton Honors guest loyalty program for all of the brands that we operate. Program members accumulate points primarily based on eligible stays and hotel charges and redeem the points for a range of benefits including free rooms and other items of value. The program is an important aspect of our business and of the affiliation value for hotel owners under management and franchise contracts. System hotels, including, without limitation, third-party hotels under management and franchise contracts, contribute a percentage of the charges incurred by members of the loyalty program for each stay of a program member. In addition to the accumulation of points for future hotel stays at our brands, Hilton Honors arranges with third parties, such as airlines, other transportation services, online vendors, retailers and credit card companies, to sell Hilton Honors points for the use of their customers and/or to allow Hilton Honors members to use or exchange points for products or services made available to loyalty program members by those third parties. Currently, the program benefits are not taxed as income to members. If the program awards and benefits are materially altered, curtailed or taxed such that a material number of Hilton Honors members choose to no longer participate in the program, our business could be adversely affected.

We currently manage, franchise, own or lease hotels and resorts in 126 countries and territories around the world. Our rooms outside the U.S. represented approximately 33 percent, 31 percent and 30 percent of our system-wide rooms for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively. We expect that our international operations will continue to account for a material portion of our results. As a result, we are subject to the risks of doing business outside the U.S., including:

These factors may adversely affect the revenues earned from our hotels and resorts (as well as the market value of properties that we own or lease) located in international markets. While these factors and the effect of these factors are difficult to predict, any one or more of them could lower our revenues, increase our costs, reduce our profits or disrupt our business operations.

Our business operations in countries outside the U.S. are subject to a number of laws and regulations, including restrictions imposed by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA"), as well as trade sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC"). Although we have policies in place designed to comply with applicable sanctions, rules and regulations, it is possible that hotels we manage, own or lease in the countries and territories in which we operate may provide services to or receive funds from persons subject to sanctions. Where we have identified potential violations in the past, we have taken appropriate remedial action including filing voluntary disclosures to OFAC. In addition, some of our operations may be subject to the laws and regulations of non-U.S. jurisdictions, including the U.K.’s Bribery Act 2010, which contains significant prohibitions on bribery and other corrupt business activities, and other local anti-corruption laws in the countries and territories in which we conduct operations.

If we fail to comply with these laws and regulations, we could be exposed to claims for damages, financial penalties, reputational harm and incarceration of employees or restrictions on our operation or ownership of hotels and other properties, including the termination of management, franchising and ownership rights. In addition, in certain circumstances, the actions of parties affiliated with us (including our owners, joint venture partners, employees and agents) may expose us to liability under the FCPA, U.S. sanctions or other laws. These restrictions could increase costs of operations, reduce profits or cause us to forgo development opportunities that would otherwise support growth.

In addition, we are subject to a number of modern slavery, human trafficking and forced labor reporting, training and mandatory due diligence laws in various jurisdictions and expect additional statutory regimes to combat these crimes to be enacted in the future. The impact of these laws, such as the U.K's Modern Slavery Act 2015 and the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act, and similar legislation on hotel operations could increase costs of operations and reduce our profits.

A significant number of our employees and employees of our hotel owners are covered by collective bargaining agreements and similar agreements, including approximately 30 percent of people employed or managed by us globally. If relationships with our employees or employees of our hotel owners or the unions that represent them become adverse, the properties we manage, franchise, own or lease have in the past and could in the future experience labor disruptions such as strikes, lockouts, boycotts and public demonstrations. A number of our collective bargaining agreements are in the process of being renegotiated, and, if more employees become unionized, we may be required to negotiate additional collective bargaining agreements in the future. Labor disputes, which may be more likely when collective bargaining agreements are being negotiated, could harm our relationship with our employees or employees of our hotel owners, result in increased regulatory inquiries and enforcement by governmental authorities and deter guests. Further, adverse publicity related to a labor dispute could harm our reputation and reduce customer demand for our services. Labor regulation and the negotiation of new or existing collective bargaining agreements could lead to higher wage and benefit costs, changes in work rules that raise operating expenses, legal costs and limitations on our ability or the ability of our third-party property owners to take cost saving measures during economic downturns. We do not have the ability to influence the negotiations of collective bargaining agreements covering unionized labor employed by third-party property owners. Increased unionization of our workforce, new labor legislation or changes in regulations could disrupt our operations and our ability to promote services expected by customers, reduce our profitability or interfere with the ability of our management to focus on executing our business strategies.

Our success depends in large part on our ability to attract, retain, train, manage and engage employees. As of December 31, 2023, we employed or managed approximately 178,000 individuals at our owned, leased and managed hotels and corporate offices around the world. If we are unable to attract, retain, train, manage and engage skilled individuals, our ability to staff and operate the hotels that we manage, own and lease could be diminished, which could reduce customer satisfaction, and our ability to manage our corporate business could be adversely affected. In addition, the inability of our franchisees to attract, retain, train, manage and engage skilled employees for the franchised hotels could adversely affect the reputation of our brands. Staffing shortages in various parts of the world also could hinder our ability to grow and expand our businesses. Because payroll costs are a major component of the operating expenses at our owned, leased and managed hotels, as well as our franchised hotels, a shortage of skilled labor could also require higher wages that would increase labor costs, which could adversely affect our results of operations and the results of hotels that we manage on behalf of third-party owners. Additionally, an increase in minimum wage rates could increase costs and reduce profits for us and our franchisees, which could, in turn, lower demand from third-party owners to add hotels to our system. The COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected the labor market for employers. Labor shortages affected the ability of our hotels to hire or re-hire employees during the ongoing recovery from the downturn caused by the pandemic. Among the factors that caused the labor shortages were the relative reduced appeal of working in the hospitality industry in a downturn, alternatives available in other industries and perceived health and safety concerns. We also face challenges with respect to retaining corporate employees. If we lost the services of one or more senior executives, this could adversely affect strategic relationships, including relationships with third-party hotel owners, significant customers, joint venture partners and vendors, and limit our ability to execute our business strategies.

The recognition and reputation of our brands are important to our success. We have a significant number of trademark registrations in jurisdictions around the world for use in connection with our services, plus at any given time, a number of pending applications for trademarks and other IP. However, those trademark or other IP registrations may not be granted or the steps we take to use, control or protect our trademarks or other IP in the U.S. and other jurisdictions may not always be adequate to prevent third parties from copying or using the trademarks or other IP without authorization. We may also fail to obtain and maintain trademark protection for all of our brands in all jurisdictions. For example, in certain jurisdictions, third parties have registered or otherwise have the right to use certain trademarks that are the same as or similar to our trademarks, which could prevent us from registering trademarks and opening hotels in those jurisdictions. Third parties may also challenge our rights to certain trademarks or oppose our trademark applications. Defending against any such proceedings may be costly,

Our IP is also vulnerable to unauthorized copying or use where local law, or lax enforcement of law, may not provide adequate protection. If our trademarks or other IP are improperly used, the value and reputation of the Hilton brands could be harmed. There are times where we may need to resort to litigation to enforce our IP rights. Litigation of this type could be unsuccessful, costly, force us to divert our resources, lead to counterclaims or other claims against us or otherwise harm our business or reputation. In addition, we license certain of our trademarks to third parties. For example, we have granted HGV the right to use certain of our IP in its timeshare business and we grant our franchisees a right to use certain of our IP in connection with their operation of the licensed hotel property. If HGV, a franchisee or other licensee fails to maintain the quality of the goods and services used in connection with the licensed trademarks, our rights to, and the value of, our trademarks could be harmed. Failure to maintain, control and protect our trademarks and other IP could likely adversely affect our ability to attract guests or third-party owners, and could adversely affect our results.

In addition, we license the right to use certain IP from unaffiliated third parties, including the right to grant sublicenses to franchisees. If we are unable to use this IP, our ability to generate revenue from such properties may be diminished.

Third parties may make claims against us for infringing their patent, trademark, copyright or other IP rights or for misappropriating their trade secrets. We have been and are currently party to a number of such claims and may receive additional claims in the future. Any such claims, even those without merit, could:

Conducting business in currencies other than the U.S. dollar ("USD") subjects us to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates that could have a negative effect on our financial results. We earn revenues and incur expenses in foreign currencies as part of our operations outside of the U.S. As a result, fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates may significantly increase the amount of USD required for foreign currency denominated expenses or significantly decrease the USD received from foreign currency denominated revenues. We also have exposure to currency translation risk for the results of our business outside of the U.S. that are reported in local currencies and then translated to USD for inclusion in our consolidated financial statements. As a result, changes between the foreign currency exchange rates and the USD will affect the recorded amounts of our foreign assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses and could have a negative effect on our financial results. Our exposure to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations will grow if the relative contribution of our operations outside the U.S. increases.

To mitigate foreign currency exposure, we enter into foreign exchange derivatives with financial institutions. However, these derivatives may not eliminate foreign currency exchange rate risk entirely and involve costs and risks of their own in the form of transaction costs, credit requirements, interest rate differentials and counterparty risk.

We operate in certain areas where the risk of natural or climate-related disaster or other catastrophic losses exists, and the occasional incidence of such an event could cause substantial damage to us, our property owners or the surrounding area. We

While Hilton procures a standalone terrorism property damage policy that covers owned and leased hotels and other hotels that choose to participate, the U.S. Terrorism Risk Insurance Program (the "Program") also provides insurance capacity for terrorist acts and is currently authorized through December 31, 2027. If the Program is not extended or renewed upon its expiration in 2027, or if there are changes to the Program that would negatively affect insurance carriers, premiums for terrorism insurance coverage will likely increase and/or the terms of such insurance may be materially amended to increase stated exclusions or to otherwise effectively decrease the scope of coverage available, perhaps to the point where it is effectively unavailable.

In some cases, these factors could result in certain losses being partially or completely uninsured. As a result, we or the owners of properties that we manage or franchise could lose some or all of the capital we or they have invested in a property, as well as the anticipated future revenues, profits, management fees or franchise fees from the property.

We are subject to the evolving rules and regulations with respect to ESG matters of a number of governmental and self-regulatory bodies and organizations, including the SEC, the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE"), the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the state of California, and the European Union, that could make compliance more difficult and uncertain. In addition, regulators, guests, investors, employees and other stakeholders are increasingly focused on ESG matters and related disclosures. These changing rules, regulations and stakeholder expectations have resulted in, and are likely to continue to result in, increased general and administrative expenses and increased management time and attention to comply with or meet those regulations and expectations. Developing and acting on ESG initiatives and collecting, measuring and reporting ESG related information and metrics can be costly, difficult and time consuming. Further, ESG related information is subject to evolving reporting standards that continue to be introduced in various states and jurisdictions. Our ESG initiatives and goals could be difficult and expensive to implement, and we could be criticized for the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of our ESG disclosures. Further, statements about our ESG related initiatives and goals, and progress against those goals, may be based on standards for measuring progress that are still developing, internal controls and processes that continue to evolve and assumptions that are subject to change in the future. In addition, we could be criticized for the scope or nature of such initiatives or goals, or for revisions to these goals. If our ESG-related data, processes and reporting are incomplete or inaccurate, or if we fail to achieve progress with respect to our ESG goals on a timely basis, or at all, our reputation and financial results could be adversely affected.

In many jurisdictions, the hospitality industry is subject to extensive foreign or U.S. federal, state and local governmental regulations, including those relating to the service of alcoholic beverages, the preparation and sale of food and those relating to building and zoning requirements. We are also subject to licensing and regulation by foreign or U.S. state and local departments relating to health, sanitation, fire and safety standards, and to laws governing our relationships with employees, including minimum wage requirements, overtime, working conditions status and citizenship requirements. These requirements are complex and subject to frequent revision, with changes at the U.S. federal level often accompanying new U.S. presidential administrations. We or our third-party owners may be required to expend funds to meet foreign or U.S. federal, state and local regulations in connection with the construction, continued operation or remodeling of certain of our properties. The failure to meet the requirements of applicable regulations and licensing requirements, or publicity resulting from actual or alleged failures, could have an adverse effect on our results of operations. For instance, in 2010, we entered into a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice related to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"). Although the bulk of our obligations under this settlement expired in 2015, certain managed and franchised hotels remain under an obligation to remove architectural barriers at their facilities. We have an obligation to have an independent consultant to monitor those barrier removal efforts. If we fail to comply with any of the requirements of the ADA, we could be subject to fines, penalties, injunctive action, reputational harm, guest, advocacy group or employee lawsuits, and other business effects that could materially and negatively affect our performance and results of operations.

We are subject to taxation at the federal, state or provincial and local levels in the U.S. and various other countries and jurisdictions. Our future effective tax rate could be affected by changes in the composition of earnings in jurisdictions with differing tax rates, changes in statutory rates and other legislative changes, changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities, or changes in determinations regarding the jurisdictions in which we are subject to tax. From time to time, the U.S. federal, state and local and foreign governments make substantive changes to tax rules and their application, which could result in materially higher corporate taxes than would be incurred under existing tax law and could adversely affect our financial condition or results of operations.

We are subject to ongoing and periodic tax audits and disputes in U.S. federal and various state, local and foreign jurisdictions. In particular, our consolidated U.S. federal income tax returns for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2011 through December 31, 2018 are actively under audit by the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS"). The IRS previously proposed material increases to our income tax liability related to our Hilton Honors guest loyalty program through the tax year ended December 31, 2018, which we consider effectively settled. We recognized the effects of the settlement in prior periods. The taxation of the Hilton Honors program continues to be subject to audit, and we could receive material tax assessments on the same issues in the future. An unfavorable outcome from any tax audit could result in higher tax costs, penalties and interest, thereby adversely affecting our financial condition or results of operations.

We are subject to certain compliance costs and potential liabilities under various foreign and U.S. federal, state and local environmental, health and safety laws and regulations. These laws and regulations govern actions including air emissions, the use, storage and disposal of hazardous and toxic substances and wastewater disposal. Our failure to comply with such laws, including obtaining and maintaining any required permits or licenses, could result in substantial fines or possible revocation of our authority to conduct some of our operations. We could also be liable under such laws for the costs of investigation, removal or remediation of hazardous or toxic substances at our currently or formerly owned, leased or operated real property (including managed and franchised properties) or at third-party locations in connection with our waste disposal operations, regardless of whether or not we knew of, or caused, the presence or release of such substances. From time to time, we may be required to remediate such substances or remove, abate or manage asbestos, mold, radon gas, lead or other hazardous conditions at our properties. The presence or release of such toxic or hazardous substances could result in third-party claims for personal injury, property or natural resource damages, business interruption or other losses. Such claims and the need to investigate, remediate or otherwise address hazardous, toxic or unsafe conditions could adversely affect our operations, the value of any affected real property, or our ability to sell, lease or assign our rights in any such property, or could otherwise harm our business or reputation. Environmental, health and safety requirements have also become increasingly stringent, and our costs to comply

We received a private letter ruling from the IRS on certain issues relevant to qualification of the spin-offs as tax-free distributions under Section 355 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"). Although the private letter ruling generally is binding on the IRS, the continued validity of the private letter ruling will be based upon and subject to the accuracy of factual statements and representations made to the IRS by us. Further, the private letter ruling is limited to specified aspects of the spin-offs under Section 355 of the Code and does not represent a determination by the IRS that all of the requirements necessary to obtain tax-free treatment to holders of our common stock and to us have been satisfied. Moreover, if any statement or representation upon which the private letter ruling was based was incorrect or untrue in any material respect, or if the facts upon which the private letter ruling was based were materially different from the facts that prevailed at the time of the spin-offs, the private letter ruling could be invalidated. The opinion of tax counsel we received in connection with the spin-offs regarding the qualification of the spin-offs as tax-free distributions under Section 355 of the Code similarly relied on, among other things, the continuing validity of the private letter ruling and various assumptions and representations as to factual matters made by each of the spun-off companies and us which, if inaccurate or incomplete in any material respect, would jeopardize the conclusions reached by counsel in its opinion. The opinion is not binding on the IRS or the courts, and there can be no assurance that the IRS or the courts will not challenge the conclusions stated in the opinion or that any such challenge would not prevail. Additionally, recently enacted legislation denies tax-free treatment to a spin-off in which either the distributing corporation or the spun-off corporation is a REIT and prevents a distributing corporation or a spun-off corporation from electing REIT status for a 10-year period following a tax-free spin-off. Under an effective date provision, the legislation does not apply to distributions described in a ruling request initially submitted to the IRS before December 7, 2015. Because our initial request for the private letter ruling was submitted before that date and because we believe the distribution has been described in that initial request, we believe the legislation does not apply to the spin-off of Park. However, no ruling was obtained on that issue and thus no assurance can be given in that regard. In particular, the IRS or a court could disagree with our view regarding the effective date provision based on any differences that exist between the description in the ruling request and the actual facts relating to the spin-offs. If the legislation applied to the spin-off of Park, either the spin-off would not qualify for tax-free treatment or Park would not be eligible to elect REIT status for a 10-year period following the spin-off.

If the spin-offs and certain related transactions were determined to be taxable, the Company would be subject to a substantial tax liability that would have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. In addition, if the spin-offs were taxable, each holder of our common stock who received shares of Park and HGV would generally be treated as receiving a taxable distribution of property in an amount equal to the fair market value of the shares received.

In connection with the spin-offs, we, Park and HGV entered into a distribution agreement and various other agreements, including a tax matters agreement, and, as to Park, management agreements, and, as to HGV, a license agreement. We are relying on Park and HGV to satisfy their performance and payment obligations under these agreements. In addition, it is possible that a court would disregard the allocation agreed to between us, Park and HGV and require that we assume responsibility for certain obligations allocated to Park and to HGV, particularly if Park or HGV were to refuse or were unable to pay or perform such obligations. In connection with the spin-offs, each of Park and HGV indemnified us with respect to such parties’ assumed or retained liabilities pursuant to the distribution agreement and breaches of the distribution agreement or other agreements related to the spin-offs. There can be no assurance that the indemnities from each of Park and HGV will be sufficient to protect us against the full amount of these and other liabilities. Third parties also could seek to hold us responsible for any of the liabilities that Park and HGV have agreed to assume. Even if we ultimately succeed in recovering from Park or HGV any amounts for which we are held liable, we may be temporarily required to bear those losses ourselves. Each of these risks could negatively affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. In addition, we agreed to indemnify each of Park and HGV from certain liabilities. Indemnities that we may be required to provide Park and/or HGV may be significant and could negatively affect our business.

We have a significant amount of indebtedness. As of December 31, 2023, our total indebtedness, excluding the deduction for unamortized deferred financing costs and discounts, was approximately $9.3 billion, and our contractual debt maturities of our long-term debt for the years ending December 31, 2024, 2025 and 2026 are $39 million, $529 million and $26 million, respectively. Our substantial debt and other contractual obligations could have important consequences, including:

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. is a holding company, and substantially all of its consolidated assets are owned by, and most of its business is conducted through, its subsidiaries. Revenues from these subsidiaries are our primary source of funds for debt payments and operating expenses. If our subsidiaries are restricted from making distributions to us, that may impair our ability to meet our debt service obligations or otherwise fund our operations. Moreover, there may be restrictions on payments by subsidiaries to their parent companies under applicable laws, including laws that require companies to maintain minimum amounts of capital and to make payments to stockholders only from profits. As a result, although a subsidiary of ours may have cash, we may not be able to obtain that cash to satisfy our obligation to service our outstanding debt or fund our operations.

Our ability to make payments on our indebtedness, to fund planned capital expenditures, to pay future dividends, if any, to our stockholders and repurchase our common stock will depend on our ability to generate cash in the future. To a certain extent, this is subject to general economic, financial, competitive, legislative, regulatory and other factors that are beyond our control. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow to service our debt and meet our other commitments, we may need to restructure or refinance all or a portion of our debt, sell material assets or operations or raise additional debt or equity capital. We may not be able to effect any of these actions on a timely basis, on commercially reasonable terms or at all, and these actions may not be sufficient to meet our capital requirements. In addition, the terms of our existing or future debt arrangements may restrict us from effecting any of these alternatives.

The indentures that govern our senior notes and the credit agreement that governs our senior secured credit facilities impose significant operating and financial restrictions on us. These restrictions limit our ability and/or the ability of our subsidiaries to, among other things:

In addition, the credit agreement requires us to maintain a consolidated secured net leverage ratio not to exceed 5.0 to 1.0 as of the last day of any period of four consecutive quarters.

As a result of these restrictions, we are limited as to how we conduct our business and we may be unable to raise additional debt or equity financing to compete effectively or to take advantage of new business opportunities. The terms of any future indebtedness we may incur could include more restrictive covenants. We may not be able to maintain compliance with these covenants in the future and, if we fail to do so, we may not be able to obtain waivers from the lenders and/or amend the covenants.

Our failure to comply with the restrictive covenants described above, as well as other terms of our other indebtedness and/or the terms of any future indebtedness from time to time, could result in an event of default, which, if not cured or waived, could result in our being required to repay these borrowings before their due date. If we are forced to refinance these borrowings on less favorable terms or are unable to refinance these borrowings, our results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected.

We may be able to incur significant additional indebtedness, including secured debt, in the future. Although the credit agreements and indentures that govern substantially all of our indebtedness contain restrictions on the incurrence of additional indebtedness and entering into certain types of other transactions, these restrictions are subject to a number of qualifications and exceptions. Additional indebtedness incurred in compliance with these restrictions could be substantial. These restrictions also do not prevent us from incurring obligations, such as trade payables, that do not constitute indebtedness as defined under our debt instruments. To the extent new debt is added to our current debt levels, the substantial leverage risks described in the preceding three risk factors would increase.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated by-laws contain provisions that may make the merger or acquisition of our company more difficult without the approval of our board of directors. Among other things:

Further, as a Delaware corporation, we are subject to provisions of Delaware law, which may impair a takeover attempt that our stockholders may find beneficial. These anti-takeover provisions and other provisions under Delaware law could discourage, delay or prevent a transaction involving a change in control of our company, including actions that our stockholders may deem advantageous, or negatively affect the trading price of our common stock. These provisions could also discourage proxy contests and make it more difficult for our stockholders to elect directors of their choosing and to cause us to take other corporate actions they desire.

None.

Hilton has a dedicated Global Information Security team (collectively, the "GIS team") led by our Chief Information Security Officer ("CISO") that is responsible for identifying, assessing, monitoring, managing and communicating the Company's cybersecurity risks. The GIS team is organized into five functional areas: (i) cloud, network and infrastructure architecture security; (ii) application security; (iii) incident response; (iv) endpoint security and vulnerability management; and (v) governance, risk and compliance ("GRC"). Collectively, the GIS team has decades of dedicated cybersecurity experience with personnel certified in various disciplines, including data privacy, enterprise risk management, cloud security and ethical hacking.

While the full board of directors has overall responsibility for risk oversight, for cyber security matters, it is supported by its Audit Committee, which regularly reports to the full board of directors. The Audit Committee assists the board of directors in monitoring cybersecurity risk by receiving quarterly reports and as needed updates from the Chief Information Officer and the CISO, that cover, among other things, our information security framework, threat assessment, response readiness and training efforts.

Hilton has adopted a Cybersecurity Policy that requires all employees to immediately report a potential cybersecurity incident to the GIS team, and all employees are required to certify their understanding of the Cybersecurity Policy on an annual basis. Our Global Cybersecurity Incident Response Plan ("CIRP") includes the criteria for determining if a cybersecurity incident is considered a qualifying cybersecurity incident ("QCI"), which requires management escalation and review, identifies the first response team and the leadership team responsible for supervising the response and provides guidelines for when and how to communicate such incident to the appropriate members of management and the Audit Committee.

The GIS team leverages several mechanisms to continuously identify and assess cybersecurity risks across the Company and utilizes a GRC platform to monitor identified risks and mitigation and remediation activities. The GIS team uses defined industry accepted risk management and controls frameworks to determine the potential likelihood and impact of each risk. Monitoring activities are designed and executed based on the materiality of the assessed likelihood and magnitude of impact of the risks that are identified. The GIS team, with the assistance of third-party consultants, performs application security reviews, penetration tests and gap assessments against certain cybersecurity frameworks. Management reviews any assessments performed by the third-party consultants and determines the final evaluations and communication plan, which the GIS team executes.

In the event of a reported potential cybersecurity incident, a first response team, which includes leaders of the GIS team, other members of management and the legal team, determines without undue delay whether it is a QCI as defined in the CIRP. If an incident is determined to be a QCI, the process included in the CIRP is initiated and such incident is communicated to the designated leadership team, including Hilton's general counsel. Further, appointed leaders collaborate on determining if the incident is material, as well as the resulting response, including any legal and financial reporting obligations of the Company. Information also is provided to additional members of senior management as appropriate. The remediation plan for the QCI is entered within Hilton's GRC platform and monitored and reviewed at least monthly to ensure effective implementation; depending upon the type of incident, additional reporting may be produced and monitored by the GIS team to ensure the effectiveness of the remediation plan. All cybersecurity incidents are tracked within our incident response platform, regardless of the potential materiality of the impact.

We also have a process in place to manage cybersecurity risks associated with third-party service providers. However, we rely on the third parties we use to implement security programs commensurate with their risk, and we cannot ensure in all circumstances that their efforts will be successful.

As of the date of this report, we are not aware of any cybersecurity threats that have materially affected or are reasonably likely to materially affect the Company, including our business strategy, results of operations or financial condition. However, as discussed under "Part I—Item 1A. Risk Factors," specifically the risks titled "Failures in, material damage to or interruptions in our information technology systems, software or websites, including as a result of cyber-attacks on our systems or systems operated by third parties that provide operational and technical services to us, costs associated with protecting the integrity and security of personal data and other sensitive information and difficulties in updating our existing software or developing or implementing new software could have a material adverse effect on our business or results of operations" and "Cyber-attacks could have a disruptive effect on our business," the sophistication of cyber threats continues to increase, and the preventative actions we take to reduce the risk of cyber incidents and protect our systems and information may be insufficient. Accordingly, no matter how well designed or implemented our controls are, we will not be able to anticipate all security breaches, and we may not be able to implement effective preventive measures against such security breaches in a timely manner.

Joint Venture Hotels

As of December 31, 2023, we had a minority or noncontrolling financial interest in the entities that own or lease the following 5 properties, representing 2,244 rooms, and we manage each of the hotels for these entities. We have a right of first refusal to purchase additional equity interests in certain of these joint ventures.

As of December 31, 2023, we leased the following 46 hotels, representing 15,247 rooms.

Our corporate headquarters is located at 7930 Jones Branch Drive, McLean, Virginia 22102, which is under a lease agreement that expires in April 2037. We also own or lease corporate offices or centralized operations centers in Memphis, Tennessee; Glasgow, Scotland (Europe); Watford, England (Europe); Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Middle East and Africa); Singapore (Asia Pacific); Tokyo, Japan; Shanghai, China; and Mexico City, Mexico. Additionally, we have support operations and other commercial services at a leased office in Addison, Texas. We believe that our existing office properties are in good condition and are sufficient and suitable for the conduct of our business. In the event we need to expand our operations, or upon expiration of our current leases, we believe that suitable space will be available on commercially reasonable terms.

We are involved in various claims and lawsuits arising in the ordinary course of business, some of which include claims for substantial sums, including proceedings involving tort and other general liability claims, employee claims, consumer protection claims and claims related to our management of certain hotels. We recognize a liability when we believe the loss is probable and can be reasonably estimated. Most occurrences involving liability, claims of negligence and employees are covered by indemnification from third-party hotel owners and/or policies that we hold with solvent insurance carriers. The ultimate results of claims and litigation cannot be predicted with certainty. We believe we have adequate reserves against such matters. We currently believe that the ultimate outcome of such lawsuits and proceedings will not, individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows. However, depending on the amount and timing, an unfavorable resolution of some or all of these matters could materially affect our future results of operations in a particular period.

Not applicable.

Our common stock is listed for trading on the NYSE under the symbol "HLT." As of December 31, 2023, there were eight holders of record of our common stock, which does not include a substantially greater number of beneficial holders whose shares are held of record by banks, brokers and other financial institutions.

We currently pay regular quarterly cash dividends and expect to continue paying regular cash dividends on a quarterly basis. Any decision to declare and pay dividends in the future will be made at the sole discretion of our board of directors, whose decision will depend on, among other things, our results of operations, cash requirements, financial condition, contractual restrictions and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant. Because we are a holding company and have no direct operations, we will only be able to pay dividends from funds we receive from our subsidiaries.

The following graph compares Hilton's cumulative total stockholder return since December 31, 2018 with the Standard and Poor's ("S&P") 500 Index ("S&P 500") and the S&P Hotels, Resorts & Cruise Lines Index ("S&P Hotel"). The graph assumes that the value of the investment in our common stock and each index was $100 on December 31, 2018. The comparisons in the graph below are based on historical data and are not indicative of, or intended to forecast, future performance of our common stock.

None.

Although our results for the year ended December 31, 2022 included a strong recovery from the pandemic when compared to the same periods in 2020 and 2021, the Omicron variant of COVID-19 limited the recovery of certain regions and segments of our business during the beginning of that period. As such, the results for the year ended December 31, 2023 reflect improvement in comparison to the year ended December 31, 2022, when considering the pandemic. While certain regions and customer segments, particularly business and group travel, continue to recover from the impacts of the pandemic, our global growth when comparing 2023 to 2022 is more normalized than it was during the height of the pandemic and our subsequent recovery. Additionally, given the impacts of the pandemic on prior periods, the improvement in our results during the year ended December 31, 2023 is not necessarily indicative of future performance or future growth patterns.