First-quarter business transient demand at Accor Group properties exhibited some softness even as overall demand held up through an uncertain quarter, CFO Martine Gerow said during a Thursday conference call.
"On demand … we see still good demand from groups and leisure and softer demand on business individuals," Gerow said. She didn't elaborate, but said Accor's overall demand was holding up amid economic uncertainty.
"March was softer than January and February due to calendar shifts, notably with Easter," she said. "April and May are trending much better. And thus far, we are not seeing significant changes in demand trends in our key markets."
Accor's systemwide first-quarter revenue per available room increased 5 percent on a like-for-like, constant-currency basis, according to the company.
Gerow said she hasn't seen much change in April and May in the volume of bookings from the United States, but noted that U.S. travel makes up only a small percentage of the French hotel giant's business. Canada, however, is a different story, she said.
"The only market where we've seen an inflection … is Canada, where we see Canadians who are planning to travel in the U.S. actually staying in Canada, and some events which were planned in the U.S. being now repositioned in Canada," Gerow said.
Accor Q1 Performance
Accor's first-quarter systemwide RevPAR increased 5 percent year over year to €69. In the Americas region—encompassing North, Central and South America and the Caribbean—it increased 13.1 percent to €41.
Q1 RevPAR in Accor's Premium, Midscale & Economy division increased 3.4 percent year over year to €55, while it increased 8.3 percent in its Luxury & Lifestyle division to €151.
First-quarter systemwide average daily rate increased 4 percent year over year to €113, while it increased 7 percent in the Americas group to €72. It increased 2.8 percent to €91 among the PM&E group and 5.3 percent to €253 at L&L properties.
Q1 systemwide occupancy increased 0.6 percentage points year over year to 60.9 percent, while it increased 3.1 percentage points to 57.5 percent in the Americas.
Total first-quarter revenue increased 9.2 percent year over year to nearly €1.35 billion.
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