This Hotel Giant Just Put a Wall Street Dealmaker in Charge of Its Caribbean Growth
Hilton named a former private-equity and real-estate executive to lead its Caribbean and Latin America region, where it already runs 315 properties.
Hilton has named Kolin Pound as its new area president for the Caribbean and Latin America, effective Aug. 24, 2026, handing one of its fastest-growing regions to an executive with a background in investment rather than hotel operations.
Pound arrives from Ares Management, where he was a managing director, and before that was a senior principal at Walton Street Capital, a real-estate private-equity firm. That pedigree is telling. Hilton already operates 315 hotels and resorts across more than 35 countries and territories in the region, with roughly 150 more in its pipeline, and much of that growth depends on owner relationships and real-estate deals rather than day-to-day housekeeping.
"Kolin is a strategic leader with a strong track record of driving performance, building trusted owner relationships and creating long-term value," said Danny Hughes, Hilton's president, Americas, who framed the hire around the company's momentum in the region.
The appointment lands as Hilton leans harder into the all-inclusive segment that has reshaped Caribbean and Mexican travel. Its Hilton all-inclusive portfolio now spans properties from Hilton Cancun to Zemi Miches Punta Cana, and the category has become a priority for nearly every major chain competing in Cancun and the Dominican Republic.
Putting a finance-minded leader over the region signals that Hilton sees its next chapter in the Caribbean as much about capital and expansion as about guest experience, a bet that the all-inclusive land grab still has room to run.
