Q3 REVIEW
Cutting the Fat
GROUP , BUSINESS TRAVEL SHINE FOR MARRIOTT ; COMPANY HERALDS COST- SAVINGS PLAN .
By DAVID EISEN
Marriott International , like its peer group , is seeing leisure travel demand flatten out , but , serendipitously , business travel and group business are filling the void . Against that backdrop , Marriott said it is also embarking on a cost-savings plan that could save franchisees and owners as much as $ 90 million a year starting in 2025 .
The largest lodging company in the world reported its third-quarter numbers and though global RevPAR was up 3 % YOY ( led by international markets ), Marriott reported that its net income was some $ 168 million less than at the same time a year ago . Still , the company ’ s development pipeline is humming with 3,800 properties and 585,000 rooms , including roughly 34,000 pipeline rooms approved . More than 220,000 rooms in the pipeline were under construction as of the end of the third quarter . Marriott International CEO Tony Capuano said that net rooms grew 6 % yearover-year .
Group business was the standout . RevPAR in the segment rose 10 % YOY for the second quarter in a row , with increases in both room nights sold and average daily rate , noted Capuano , though adding that at the end of September , global group revenues were facing roughly flat for the fourth quarter , primarily due to negative impact from the U . S . election , but up 8 % for full-year 2024 . Increases in group business disproportionally benefit Marriott due to its large volume of convention-style hotels , “ at nearly double the number of rooms of the next closest peer ,” Capuano said . Group revenue for 2025 at Marriott is pacing up 7 % at the end of the quarter on a 3 % increase in room nights and a 4 % increase in average daily rate .
On the same solid trajectory is the global
48 hotelsmag . com Jan / Feb 2025