Hotel earnings surge as travel bug bites

If it seemed like everyone you knew was traveling this summer, they probably were. At least, that’s what third-quarter hotel earnings suggest. Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt all reported strong gains in their most recent earnings calls.

Hilton earned $2.67 billion in revenue, beating expectations, and its revenue per available room (RevPAR) was up 6.8% from Q3 of last year. Occupancy, president and CEO Chris Nassetta said, reached its highest level since the pandemic, and was nearly back to its 2019 high.

Marriott, the world’s largest hotel group, took in $1.2 billion in gross fee revenues for the quarter, 13% higher than Q3 of last year. Its global RevPAR was up 8.8% YoY.

Hyatt had a “tremendous quarter,” president and CEO Mark Hoplamazian said in a press release. Its total fees for the first three quarters of the year were 25% higher than in 2022, and its RevPAR rose 8.9% YoY.

The travel bug has bitten: There’s been “robust demand around the world” for travel, Marriott president and CEO Tony Capuano said in a press release. Marriott saw almost 25% more cross-border leisure travel among Americans and Canadians compared with last year. And in international locations, RevPAR grew 21.8% YoY..

Business travel is also seeing a resurgence. At Hilton, RevPAR for group bookings topped 2019 levels for the first time since the pandemic. “Group is just off the hook,” Nassetta said. “Our teams are saying they’re doing everything they can to keep up with demand.”

But the makeup of business travelers has shifted, Marriott’s Capuano said: While small and medium-sized businesses have reverted to their pre-pandemic travel patterns, large corporations are returning to travel more slowly.

Hilton’s Nassetta said he expects large group bookings to pick up in the near future, observing that large organizations plan events far in advance and that many held off on planning when there was more uncertainty around pandemic safety measures.

Trend toward experiences is boosting travel: Consumers’ desire to choose experiences over goods is also driving travel, Leeny Oberg, Marriott’s CFO and EVP of development, said. And though this trend started among younger people, it now spans generations, Capuano added, citing Marriott’s credit card spending data.