Hotel group Marriott has today reported a lower than expected quarterly profit because of fewer bookings in its main US market, but the business showed a sharp rebound in China, which is emerging out of the pandemic at a faster pace.
Marriott owns the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton brands.
Analysts have said that major chains like Marriott and smaller rival Hilton will take longer to recover as they rely heavily on business travel, which remains weak due to border curbs in place in many countries.
Marriott, which gets nearly three quarters of its revenue from the US and Canada, said its RevPAR, a key measure for a hotel's top line performance, fell 46.3% in the region in the three months ended March 31.
Greater China was the only market for Marriott to show positive occupancy growth, with RevPAR surging nearly 77%.
"While recovery trajectories vary from region to region, the resiliency of demand has been most keenly demonstrated in mainland China, where occupancy is near the pre-pandemic level," chief executive Tony Capuano said.
Last week, Hilton said Asia, including China, was its only market with positive quarterly occupancy rates and the smallest year-over-year fall in RevPAR.
Marriott's adjusted profit fell 33% to $296m in first quarter, below market expectation of $305.6m, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Total revenue halved to $2.32 billion and missed Wall Street estimate of $2.36 billion.
