Choice Hotels' second-quarter domestic systemwide revenue per available room declined 1.1 percent compared with the same period in 2019, with June results exceeding 2019 levels by nearly 5 percent and July by 15 percent, said Choice president and CEO Patrick Pacious during a Thursday second-quarter earnings call.
"It's truly a remarkable achievement," Pacious said, adding that the company's goal is not simply to return to 2019 performance levels, but rather to capitalize on current and future investments to fuel long-term growth.
The company's domestic systemwide RevPAR for Q2 was $51.54, up from $26.27 in 2020. Occupancy was 62.3 percent compared with 39.1 percent for the same period last year. Average daily rate recovered to $82.72 from $67.21 one year prior. In the third quarter, July occupancy was at 70 percent, and ADR increased 10 percent over July 2019, according to the company.
Though leisure demand has been driving lodging recovery, and Choice's, the company also has seen "continuing momentum" in business travel trends, "with additional runway for growth," Pacious said. "We have seen sequential quarter-over-quarter and month-over-month increases in our business travel booking trends in the second quarter. Likewise, with our recent refresh of our Comfort brand and the upscale penetration, we are well-positioned to not only recover existing business travel but also expand our guest base as business travel rebounds."
Choice's group travel bookings reached 90 percent of 2019 levels for the first half of the year, Pacious said, with lead volumes steadily rising close to 2019 levels.
The company awarded 200 domestic franchise agreements year to date through June 30, a 32 percent increase compared with the same period of 2020. Conversion agreements increased 43 percent year to date for the same period.
The company continued to see strength in its extended-stay portfolio, with domestic systemwide RevPAR growth of 9.9 percent for the second quarter compared with 2019. Occupancy levels for this segment reached 82 percent and ADR increased 2 percent over the same period. The WoodSpring Suites brand achieved RevPAR growth of 16 percent in the second quarter compared with the same period in 2019, driven by occupancy levels of nearly 86 percent and an increase in ADR of 5.6 percent.
Choice's second-quarter net income increased 15 percent compared to 2019 with $85.9 million.
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