Perhaps it's the cold winter weather or just the natural human desire to experience life to the fullest, but two monster stocks worth holding for the next 20 years are Carnival (CCL +1.99%) and Hyatt Hotels (H 0.33%). Why these two hospitality brands? It's quite simple. Travel is cyclical, but it isn't a fad.
While the frequency, duration, and luxury of personal travel ebb and flow with both micro and macroeconomic trends, a growing global middle class will continue to make Carnival and Hyatt winners. As long as these brands continue to deliver on experiential expectations, the next 20 years look promising for both stocks.
NYSE: CCL
Key Data Points
The global travel market is expected to reach more than $9.5 trillion by 2035. This presents a massive opportunity for brands positioned to innovate in customer experiences and willing to expand into emerging markets. Carnival and Hyatt fit both of those bills.
Carnival's stock is cruising
Carnival is the world's largest cruise line operator, with a fleet of more than 90 ships that sail to 800 ports worldwide. The company still hasn't fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels, but it does have some promising tailwinds. On a global level, cruising is still an emerging travel market. Carnival's sheer size and scale enable it to penetrate underrepresented markets worldwide. It also holds pricing power that smaller competitors can't readily match.
Image source: Getty Images.
Carnival has significant debt on its balance sheet, and that fact shouldn't be ignored. However, the company is improving its cash flow and paying down its debt. Over the next two decades, as demand for cruise travel increases, this will allow Carnival to improve its balance sheet as it grows.
The cruise operator's stock is currently undervalued. Carnival is trading very close to its 52-week high, but the company still has a low forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 13. Carnival also reinstated its dividend in December 2025, a highly bullish sign for investors. The small quarterly dividend is currently $0.15 per share.
Hyatt's pivot is paying off
Hyatt Hotels operates in 80 countries across six continents. The hotel chain has transformed into an asset-light, fee-driven hospitality brand. This means the company prefers management and franchise agreements instead of owning every hotel property. Ultimately, this reduces capital intensity and gives it greater scalability than competitors who outright own their real estate portfolios.
NYSE: H
Key Data Points
Hyatt has also focused on growing its World of Hyatt loyalty program, which now has more than 60 million members. This program promotes customer retention and repeat bookings.
In its quarterly earnings report released on Feb. 12, Hyatt provided a robust outlook for 2026. The hospitality company anticipates adjusted free cash flow to increase by 22% to 33%. It also sees gross fee growth of 8% to 11% and net rooms increasing by 6% to 7%. Most significantly, net income could jump from a loss of $52 million to a hugely positive $235 million to $320 million. All in all, Hyatt's pivot to asset-light should really begin to pay off in 2026.
Hyatt has rebounded nicely post-pandemic. The stock has also reflected this rebound, rising 125% over the past five years. The company's forward P/E ratio of 34 is slightly higher than the industry average, but if investors are buying for the next 20 years, a slight price premium now isn't much of a factor.
Traveling with Carnival and Hyatt for the next 20 years
As life and health expectancies rise and wealth grows worldwide, the opportunity for travel brands to expand in the U.S. and internationally is strong. Both Hyatt Hotels and Carnival are innovating in their customer experiences and improving long-term financial performance. Twenty years from now, investors could be relaxing poolside thanks to these two stocks.
