Mirroring Marriott International's and Hilton Worldwide's preliminary first-quarter results, Hyatt Hotels Corp. expects systemwide March revenue per available room to decline 66.6 percent year over year, according to a Tuesday company filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. RevPAR for the quarter ending March 31 is expected to be down 28.1 percent. The results are preliminary and could change by the time Hyatt holds its first-quarter earnings call, scheduled for May 7.
Prior to the global coronavirus outbreak, the company in February saw RevPAR increase 1.6 percent year over year, excluding results from Asia/Pacific, where the first Covid-19 cases appeared in December. Systemwide results have worsened in the first half of April, and the company expects a material decrease in RevPAR for the second quarter of 2020.
Systemwide occupancy rates as of April 15 were averaging about 15 percent for operating hotels. Approximately 35 percent of Hyatt's properties globally were closed as of that date. Occupancy levels in Greater China have shown gradual improvements in recent weeks, with April occupancy approaching 20 percent through April 15 as quarantines and travel restrictions have been lifted. Currently four hotels remain closed in Greater China, compared with 26 during the peak of the crisis in the region in February. The increase in demand is reported to be driven by leisure travel.
Hyatt also reported that group business has experienced limited cancellations for dates in the second half of 2020, with practically no cancellations in 2021 and beyond. Some near-term group business has been rebooked into the latter part of 2020 or early 2021. Booking volumes, however, have decreased in the last several weeks.
The company pulled its 2020 guidance in early March.