Wyndham Hotels & Resorts reported year-over-year revenue gains of 55 percent, to $468 million, during the first quarter. The total reflects $169 million of incremental revenue from La Quinta, which Wyndham acquired last May. Excluding the La Quinta impact and the company's divestiture of Knights Inn, revenue remained consistent with the prior year, as lower cost-reimbursement revenue offset higher license, royalty and other fees.
Global revenue per available room increased 7 percent year over year from $33.95 to $36.21; it increased 1 percent in constant currency excluding 2018 acquisitions and divestitures. U.S. RevPAR rose 13 percent from $35.91 to $40.56; it rose 1 percent excluding 2018 acquisitions and divestitures. As of March 31, Wyndham had 812,000 rooms, a 12 percent increase compared to the first quarter of 2018 and a 3 percent increase excluding 2018 acquisitions and divestitures. The company's pipeline consists of 181,000 rooms, a 23 percent year-over-year increase, and included more than 25,000 La Quinta pipeline rooms and the removal of 2,000 Knights Inn pipeline rooms. Approximately 54 percent of Wyndham's pipeline is international; 73 percent is new construction.
Wyndham completed its integration of La Quinta in April, migrating the brand's more than 900 hotels to Wyndham's outsourced, cloud-based central reservation and property management systems and adding La Quinta to the Wyndham Rewards loyalty program, which now has more than 75 million members. During the first quarter, the company announced it was revamping its Wyndham Rewards redemption rate beginning April 3 from a flat 15,000 points to a tiered chart with levels at 7,500, 15,000 and 30,000 points. In addition, Wyndham reaffirmed its 2019 revenue outlook at a range of $2.11 billion to $2.16 billion. That would represent 13 percent growth. The number of rooms expected to be added for the year remains between 2 percent and 4 percent, and RevPAR growth guidance is 1 percent to 3 percent in constant currency.
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