Hotel giant Marriott International has announced “outstanding” results for the second quarter, with its European properties recording a “notably strong” recovery in revenue.
The US-based company said it had seen demand continue to increase across all customer segments throughout the April-June quarter, as global revpar (revenue per available room) exceeded 2019 levels in June.
Marriott added that its average daily rate (ADR) had been “robust” during the quarter and was seven per cent above comparable 2019 levels at $175.99. Worldwide occupancy rates also continued their recovery to reach 68 per cent across the company’s 30-plus global brands.
CEO Anthony Capuano said: “Marriott’s second quarter results highlight consumers’ love for travel. We reported outstanding results, as momentum in global lodging recovery continued.
“Europe also experienced notably strong revpar recovery, in large part due to the return of international visitors, with June revpar exceeding 2019.”
Total revenue for Marriott rose by 70 per cent in the quarter to $5.3 billion compared to Q2 in 2021, with net profit up by 61 per cent to $678 million year-on-year.
Marriott’s European properties recorded the highest occupancy level outside of North America at 67.5 per cent for the second quarter, an increase of 46 percentage points on the same period in 2021. Although it remained nine points down on 2019’s occupancy.
Average daily rate in Europe was up by 44 per cent to $200.79 year-on-year and revpar by 355 per cent to $135.51, compared with the second quarter of 2021. ADR was also 8.4 per cent higher in Europe than in Q2 2019, illustrating the strength of the recovery in hotel demand across the continent.
“I am proud of the remarkable work our team has accomplished since the beginning of the pandemic,” added Capuano. “This has been the most challenging period in our company's history, but the resiliency of our associates and our business model have never been more evident.
“With our robust cash flow and profits, we resumed share repurchases during the second quarter, in addition to paying a cash dividend. Looking ahead, we are optimistic about our financial outlook and strong cash generation and expect to return more than $2.2 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases in 2022.”
Marriott continues to grow its portfolio of hotels with 97 properties and 17,000 rooms added globally in the quarter, including 9,200 rooms outside North America. The company has a total of around 8,100 properties globally and 1.5 million rooms on its system.
There are also another 2,950 hotels and 495,000 rooms in the company’s development “pipeline”, including 203,300 rooms currently under construction.
“Signing activity has accelerated in 2022, setting a second quarter record,” added Capuano. “We signed 23,000 rooms around the world in the second quarter, nearly 30 per cent of which were conversions from competitor brands.
“Conversions continue to be a meaningful growth driver, comprising roughly 25 per cent of room additions in the quarter.”