Hyatt Hotels Corp. reported its fourth consecutive quarter of record results during the company's Q1 earnings call on Thursday, with Hyatt CEO Mark Hoplamazian crediting the achievement in part to RevPAR (revenue per available room) growth "that is trending meaningfully above 2019 levels."
The company posted a systemwide RevPAR gain of 42.9% in the first quarter of 2023, while average daily rate (ADR) rose 11.6%, to $202.29. Occupancy was up 14.1 percentage points, to 64.5%.
"We see a positive progression in the first quarter -- leisure resort ADRs were up 1% year over year, which is quite remarkable given how explosive the growth was a year ago," said Hoplamazian.
Hoplamazian also touted "another exceptional quarter" for the company's Apple Leisure Group (ALG) resort portfolio, which had first-quarter net package RevPAR rise 30% in the Americas and increase 36% in Europe.
The ALG stable also benefited from synergy with Hyatt's World of Hyatt loyalty program, with Hoplamazian telling analysts that in the Americas, more than 20% of room nights at ALG resorts were booked by World of Hyatt members in the first quarter.
Recovery of business travel, Asia
Other first-quarter highlights included a continued comeback in business travel as well as further progress in Asia.
According to Hoplamazian, business transient bookings recovered to approximately 85% of the 2019 level, with March being "especially encouraging," reaching 92% of March 2019.
"Business transient had the strongest relative recovery," said Hoplamazian, adding that Asia Pacific also contributed significantly to first-quarter growth, thanks primarily to an improved performance in China.
Hoplamazian acknowledged that Hyatt's rapid growth trajectory is likely to begin tapering off in the months ahead.
"We expect the second-quarter growth rates to moderate relative to the first quarter, driven in part by the strong recovery we began to see in the second quarter of last year," he said.
Hyatt reported first-quarter net income of $58 million, compared to a net loss of $73 million in the first quarter of 2022. Total revenue for the quarter was $1.68 billion, up from nearly $1.3 billion a year earlier.