Wyndham Hotels & Resorts' second-quarter U.S. revenue per available room held steady year over year, though the company cut its full-year outlook, citing a more sluggish recovery than expected.
Wyndham's second-quarter systemwide RevPAR decreased 1 percent year over year to $45.99 but increased 2 percent in constant currency. Still, the company now projects flat full-year RevPAR after previously forecasting growth of 2 percent to 3 percent.
"While global RevPAR improved sequentially, the second-quarter trends … represented a more gradual return to year-over-year growth than previously anticipated," Wyndham CFO Michele Allen said on a Thursday earnings call. "As a result, we're updating our full-year 2024 growth outlook."
The company, though, said it is seeing improving demand, including in infrastructure-related bookings, the bread-and-butter of Wyndham's business travel volume.
"We are seeing positive trends," Wyndham CEO Geoff Ballotti said. "Our teams on the ground continue to see gains in our domestic brands and market share with strong share gain midweek, pointing to that increased infrastructure pickup that we know can accelerate with continued strength in our booking pace."
Meanwhile, Ballotti touted the rollout of Wyndham Rewards Business, the loyalty program Wyndham launched for businesses in April and which is part of the Wyndham Business platform.
Wyndham Business "has seen a weekly pace of applications, which has doubled since" Wyndham Rewards Business was launched, Ballotti said.
"It's important to have those tools, especially as we increase our field sales teams to go after" small and midsized enterprises, Ballotti said. "Wyndham Business was a big, big tool in their hands to help when they're talking to an account."
Corporate clients can earn points through Wyndham Rewards Business, but stays must be booked through Wyndham's app, websites, other direct channels or global distribution systems; commissionable rates are not eligible for points.
Wyndham Q2 Metrics
Wyndham's second-quarter U.S. occupancy increased 1 percent year over year, the first such increase since Q2 2022, Ballotti said. Allen said Wyndham expected additional domestic occupancy increases for the remainder of 2024.
Wyndham's second-quarter U.S. RevPAR increased 0.3 percent to $55.44.
Second-quarter net revenue increased to $367 million from $362 million one year prior. Net income was $86 million, up from $70 million one year prior.
As of June 30, Wyndham's pipeline included nearly 2,000 hotels and about 245,000 rooms, up about 7 percent year over year. Echo, Wyndham's new economy extended-stay brand, makes up about 14 percent of the pipeline, according to the company.
Total room count at the end of Q2 was 884,900, up 4 percent year over year.
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