by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 9:05 AM ET, Wed May 5, 2021
Hilton released a report detailing its first quarter of 2021 on May 5, showing the economic toll the pandemic is still taking on the company while also demonstrating growth for the future.
Hilton lost $109 million in its first quarter this year, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. RevPAR, or revenue per available room, dropped 38.4 percent compared to the first quarter of 2020 when the pandemic first began. Net income loss for last year's first quarter was only $18 million in comparison to this year's first quarter's $109 million.
In addition, Hilton's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) for the first quarter last year was $363 million. This year's first-quarter EBITDA was $198 million.
While these numbers show the dramatic loss that the pandemic brought upon one of the world's largest hotel companies, there are some good things to celebrate. As of April 28, 2021, 97 percent of Hilton's hotels across the globe were open and functioning again.
Within the past three months, Hilton has opened 105 hotels, including the 100th Curio Collection by Hilton hotel and the 50th Tapestry Collection by Hilton hotel. It plans to continue this growth globally, with 2,570 hotels in development with around 399,000 rooms in over 114 countries and territories, many in ones Hilton hadn't yet expanded into.
"We are pleased with our first-quarter results. While rising COVID-19 cases and tightened travel restrictions, particularly across Europe and our Asia Pacific region, weighed on demand in January and February, we saw meaningful improvement in March and April," said Hilton's President & Chief Executive Officer Christopher J. Nassetta. "We expect this positive momentum to continue as vaccines are more widely distributed and our customers feel safe traveling again. We continue to grow our portfolio of hotels in exciting destinations throughout the world, giving our guests more options than ever before to make a Hilton hotel a part of their plans as travel resumes."
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