Q2 REVIEW
FLIPPING THE SCRIPT
HYATT GROUP , BUSINESS TRANSIENT SHINE .
By DAVID EISEN
There is a sea change afoot in the hotel industry and it washed up into Hyatt Hotels Corp .’ s second quarter . Leisure transient business , which undergirded the hospitality industry in the post-pandemic days , months and years has , reasonably , decelerated . In the breach , group and business transient business has accelerated and delivered hearty revenue for Hyatt , something its president and CEO , Mark Hoplamazian , underscored during his company ’ s Q2 earnings call with analysts .
“ Group and business transient were our strongest customer segments in the quarter ,” he said , as the Easter shift to the first quarter became a tailwind for group and business travel in April and a headwind for leisure travel .
Group room revenue increased approximately 8 % in the quarter , highlighted by strong results in most U . S . major urban markets during the months of May and June , Hoplamazian said , adding that group pace for U . S . full-service managed properties is up 70 % for the second half of 2024 .
The business transient customer segment popped for Hyatt in the quarter , up approximately 14 % in the U . S ., with standout cities including New York , Seattle , San Diego and Washington , D . C . “ The top-performing
12 hotelsmag . com September 2024