Accor's full-year 2024 revenue per available room (RevPAR) increased 5.7 per cent year on year, the hospitality group said, driven in part by “resilient” business travel demand.
"Room revenue growth was driven both by business and leisure, which proved remarkably resilient,” Accor CFO Martine Gerow said during a Thursday conference call. Gerow also said that large corporates, as a category, reported double-digit growth in room revenue, primarily driven by demand from the tech and financial services sectors.
However, Accor chairman and CEO Sébastien Bazin conceded that “it’s very difficult for us to assess if a trip is done for business or leisure. It’s all combined today. Data doesn’t really show us the main purpose of the trip, but ‘bleisure’ is more true today than it has ever been”.
He added that, based on Accor’s data, people tend to travel from Thursday night to Tuesday morning, working remotely from the hotel on Friday and Monday, while visiting the destination over the weekend.
The France-based hospitality group reported a 11 per cent year-on-year increase in revenue to €5.6 billion, which breaks down into a 5 per cent increase for the group’s Premium, Midscale and Economy (PM&E) division and a 19 per cent increase for its Luxury & Lifestyle (L&L) division.
The global average room rate for 2024 was €113, marking a 3.8 per cent year-on-year increase, while occupancy rate increased 1.2 percentage points to 66.7 per cent. RevPar increased 5.7 per cent to €75.
The average room rate in Europe and North Africa was €103 – the highest of any region – which represents a 2.9 per cent year-on-year increase. RevPar in the region increased 3.3 per cent to €69, while occupancy rate increased 0.3 percentage points to 67.3 per cent for the year.
Consolidated recurring EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) came to €1.1 billion for 2024, a new record for Accor and up 12 per cent on the previous year.
Bazin said the record performance reflects “the strength of our brands and our digital tools, the renewed confidence of our partners and the efficiency of our organisation based on two autonomous and complementary divisions” and added that “we are approaching 2025 with confidence and the ambition to once again deliver excellent results”.
Q4 results
Systemwide RevPar for the fourth quarter of 2024 saw a 5.8 per cent increase to €77, while occupancy rate increased 1.6 percentage points to 67.2 per cent and average room rates increased 3.3 per cent to €114.
In Europe and North Africa RevPar increased 1.9 per cent to €67, driven by higher occupancy rates which increased 1.3 percentage points to 66.3 per cent. Average room rates for the region were €101, up 0.2 per cent compared to the same period in 2023.
Accor’s three core markets in the region – France, Germany and the UK – continued to drive momentum on the fourth quarter, the company said, with RevPAR growth “slightly stronger” in Germany than in France and the UK.
In France, which accounts for 42 per cent of the region’s room revenue, the change in RevPAR in Paris was “slightly negative” in the fourth quarter, due to “an unfavourable basis of comparison” with the Rugby World Cup in October 2023. However, “strong” international demand in December 2024, particularly from the US, helped to turn this around.
The PM&E division posted a 4 per cent increase in RevPAR, driven equally by prices and occupancy, while the L&L division saw a 10 per cent year-on-year increase in RevPAR for the quarter.
In 2024, Accor opened 293 hotels, corresponding to more than 50,000 rooms. As of December 2024, the group has a portfolio of 5,682 hotel (equivalent to 850,285 rooms) and a pipeline of more than 1,381 properties.