First-quarter hotel earnings season kicked off with Accor reporting €361 million in revenue, which is down year over year by 48 percent on a like-for-like basis, and down 57 percent when compared with the first quarter of 2019.
Consolidated revenue per available room was down 64.3 percent on a like-for-like basis compared with the first quarter of 2019, which reflects the ongoing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly the emergence of the U.K. variant, according to the company. Accor's occupancy rate of 29.9 percent declined 35.5 percentage points from two years ago. Average daily rate fell 21.2 percent from 2019 to €66.
"There were no surprises in our first-quarter performance," said Accor chairman and CEO Sébastien Bazin in a statement. "Global business trends are improving slightly, and the ramp-up of the vaccine rollouts bodes well for a particularly strong rebound. … Today, all our efforts are focused on the strong recovery expected this summer."
Accor has changed its reporting format and its roster of geographical regions, which now include South Europe (including France); North Europe (including the U.K. and Germany); Asia-Pacific, comprising the Pacific, Southeast Asia and Greater China regions; India, the Middle East, Africa and Turkey; and the Americas, including North/Central America, the Caribbean and South America.
South Europe reported a 63.2 percent decline in RevPAR over 2019's first quarter, which represents a sequential improvement, mainly due to the easing of some pandemic-related restrictions, according to Accor. North Europe RevPAR plummeted 81.9 percent from 2019 due to the extension of strict lockdown measures since the end of 2020.
Asia-Pacific RevPAR declined 54.8 percent from 2019. China's RevPAR fell 42.6 percent, which represents a deterioration from 2020's fourth-quarter drop of 18.1 percent. This was due to a resurgence of Covid-19 cases in China between January and February, leading to the reintroduction of government restrictions. By March, China's RevPAR showed improvement and was down by 31 percent.
India, the Middle East, Africa and Turkey saw RevPAR decline 50.5 percent. Dubai saw increased inbound bookings from Europe, but whether the regional improvement continues depends on events expected to take place in the second half of 2021, according to Accor.
The Americas' RevPAR was down 72.8 percent versus 2019. Though the region is beginning to improve, especially with the quick distribution of vaccines in the United States, RevPAR for North/Central America and the Caribbean was off by 76.3 percent. An improvement was underway in the beginning of the year in South America, where RevPAR fell 62.9 percent for the quarter compared with 2019, but the company cited increasing Covid-19 in March, particularly in Brazil.
As of March 31, 2021, Accor had 757,308 rooms across 5,163 hotels. The company opened 56 hotels with about 7,100 rooms during the first quarter. Its pipeline consisted of 211,000 rooms, of which 74 percent were in emerging markets. As of April 19, 87 percent of the company's hotels were open.
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