Hyatt lauds ‘extraordinarily encouraging’ business travel

Hyatt Hotels’ business travel demand in 2024 has been “extraordinarily encouraging”, with global revenue from the sector up by 6 per cent year-on-year during the first quarter of 2024.

Mark Hoplamazian, Hyatt’s president and CEO, said during an earnings call last week that Hyatt had seen “strength” in global business transient revenue in both January and February, which was a “clear sign that business travel continues to recover”.

Hyatt’s figures reflect similarly positive statements about the strength of the corporate market from other major hotel firms earlier this month, including Marriott and IHG.

Business travel momentum continued in April for Hyatt with total revenue from the sector up by 21 per cent year-on-year during the month. Although these figures were boosted by Easter falling in March this year compared with April in 2023.

“Business transient, frankly, in the first quarter, into the second quarter is extraordinarily encouraging,” added Hoplamazian. “Our business transient hotels were up 15 per cent – almost 16 per cent – in the first quarter. Convention hotels were up about 11 per cent, just as a hotel type.”

Hyatt’s systemwide Q1 revenue per available room (RevPar) increased by 5.5 per cent year-on-year to $131.86, while average daily rate (ADR) increased 2 per cent to $202.33 and occupancy went up by 2.2 percentage points to 65.2 per cent.

The company has maintained its outlook for a 3-5 per cent year-on-year increase in RevPAR during the whole of 2024.

Hyatt’s first-quarter revenue increased to $1.71 billion from $1.68 billion in the same quarter last year. Net income increased to $522 million from $58 million in Q1 2023, a figure boosted by sales this year of several Hyatt properties. 

Net rooms increased by 5.5 per cent year-on-year to more than 323,400 in the quarter, while Hyatt’s pipeline of new hotel capacity increased 10 per cent to more than 129,000 rooms.