Hotel giant Accor has reported a ‘very strong’ rebound in activity for its second quarter, with revpar (revenue per available room) exceeding 2019 levels in several markets, including key destinations across Europe.
The France-based company reported €1,725 million in revenue for the first half of 2022, a 97 per cent increase on the same period last year. According to the group’s H2 report, released on Thursday, this translates to a 119 per cent increase in revenue for hotel services (management and franchise fees, services to owners) compared to H1 2021, and a 57 per cent for ‘hotel assets & other’, which includes concierge services and luxury home rentals.
Accor chairman and CEO Sébastien Bazin said this quarter’s strong rebound exceeded pre-pandemic levels for the first time, with positive activity “in all regions and for all of our brands”.
“The summer will confirm these trends and the fall promises to be strong with the recovery of major seminars and conventions,” he added.
“Nevertheless, the group remains attentive to the evolution of the geopolitical and economic environment. At this stage, the Group should report a strong growth in EBITDA, with a target of more than €550 million for the full-year in 2022.”
Consolidated revpar in H1 2022 was down 11 per cent compared to H1 2019 and up 1 per cent in Q2 2022 versus Q2 2019. According to the report, these figures reflect a month-after-month sequential improvement in business, where a sharp increase in prices was driven by demand and inflation.
RevPAR in South Europe was 2 per cent above the Q2 2019 levels, while North Europe was down 7 per cent, but business improved sequentially month after month. Major cities like Paris and London led the rebound, with the UK capital recording revpar above Q2 2019 levels.
The Middle East, Africa, India and Turkey saw revpar surpass year-on-year 2019 levels by 32 per cent, while the Pacific saw a 9 per cent increase on 2019, continuing recovery seen in Q1 2022 following the opening of Australia’s international borders.
In North and Central America and the Caribbean, revpar was in line with Q2 2019 levels, driven by a sharp increase in prices.
China, where travel restrictions remain in place, saw a 38 per cent decline in revpar compared to Q2 2019, and in South East Asia, a region highly dependent on Chinese visitors, revpar was down 31 per cent.
During the first half of 2022, Accor opened 85 hotels, representing 11,700 rooms. At the end of June 2022, the group had a portfolio of 5,300 hotels, with 1,215 hotels in the pipeline.