by Donald Wood
Last updated: 12:02 PM ET, Wed October 26, 2022
The coronavirus pandemic devastated the travel industry, but hotel and resort companies are reporting a strong comeback in terms of income and demand as part of quarterly earnings reports.
On Wednesday, Hilton Worldwide Holdings announced its third-quarter earnings topped estimates as fewer pandemic-related concerns and restrictions have caused a surge in domestic and international travel.
The company said the third-quarter EBITDA was $732 million and exceeded the high end of guidance, while systemwide comparable RevPAR increased five percent compared to the same period in 2019 and 29.9 percent in 2021.
RevPAR exceeded its pre-pandemic level for the first time since the pandemic began. Hilton also approved 19,900 new rooms for development during the third quarter, bringing the company's development pipeline to 416,000 rooms.
"We expect these strong trends to continue throughout the fourth quarter with systemwide RevPAR (revenue per available room) once again exceeding prior peaks," Hilton CEO Christopher Nassetta said.
IHG Hotels & Resorts announced last week that its third-quarter business travel revenue in the Americas region had climbed back to 2019's pre-pandemic levels. The company reported a systemwide RevPar year-over-year increase of 27.4 percent, an average daily rate gain of 12.6 percent and occupancy levels up 7.8 percentage points to 67.6 percent.
Compared to pre-pandemic 2019 levels, systemwide RevPar grew 2.7 percent, ADR increased 11.3 percent and occupancy declined 5.7 percentage points.
As part of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts' third-quarter results, the company revealed global RevPAR grew 12 percent compared to the third quarter of 2021, while S. RevPAR grew two percent and represents 110 percent of 2019 levels.
The hotel giant's development pipeline grew 10 percent year-over-year to 212,000 rooms and U.S. development signings increased 82 percent, including 48 new construction projects for the company's new extended-stay brand, bringing the total number to 120 since launch in March.
While Hyatt Hotels Corporation has not announced its third-quarter results, the company revealed in September its strategic brand growth in the Latin America and Caribbean region includes a development pipeline of more than 20 planned hotels and resort openings through 2024, including the expansion of brands into new markets.
Marriott International said it would report third-quarter earnings results on November 3.
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