Fourth-quarter systemwide Hyatt Hotels Corp. business travel revenue increased 10 percent year over year, executives said on a Thursday earnings call, describing the growth as part of a broad-based return among large corporates.
"We continue to see our large corporate customers back on the road, and we experienced an increase in both demand and average rate in the quarter," Hyatt CEO Mark Hoplamazian said.
Hoplamazian called the increase in business travel demand "relatively balanced," noting that "IT and banking and finance, are up over 20 percent in 2024 versus 2023. But we also have consulting and pharma that are also in the double digits. So it's not like one sector is blowing the doors off and everything else is flat or down. It's actually relatively well spread."
Hyatt CFO Joan Bottarini said business travel demand was "continuing the momentum" in January.
Meanwhile, corporate group business in 2024 "has been growing at a much higher rate than association," Hoplamazian said. "And part of that is rate-driven, which is why we're seeing rate continue to expand. And that's true for what we realized in 2024, but also what our outlook and pace looks like into 2025."
Full-year business travel revenue increased 12 percent year over year, Hoplamazian said.
Hyatt Q4, Full-Year Metrics
Hyatt's systemwide fourth-quarter revenue per available room increased 5 percent year over year to $140.87, while ADR increased 1.8 percent to $204.40 and occupancy grew 2.1 percentage points to 68.9 percent.
Full-year RevPAR increased 4.6 percent year over year to $142.48, while ADR grew 1.6 percent to $203.70 and occupancy increased 2 percentage points to 69.9 percent.
U.S. fourth-quarter RevPAR increased 3.1 percent to $142.15. ADR increased 0.8 percent to $211.14, and occupancy grew 1.5 percentage points to 67.3 percent.
Hyatt projected 2025 RevPAR to increase 2 percent to 4 percent year over year.
Hyatt's fourth-quarter revenue declined 3.5 percent year over year to $1.6 billion, and the company posted a net loss of $56 million compared with net income of $26 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. Full-year revenue declined about 0.3 percent year over year to $6.65 billion, and 2024 net income increased to $1.3 billion from $220 million in 2023.
Hyatt this week announced it had agreed to acquire all-inclusive resort chain Playa Hotels & Resorts for $2.6 billion.
RELATED: Hyatt Q3 performance