Driven by an uptick in government infrastructure activity,
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’ domestic business segment contributed 16 percent
more hotel revenue than it did in first quarter 2021, executives said during a Tuesday
earnings call. “Over half of our negotiated corporate business accounts that we
signed in the first quarter were infrastructure related,” said Wyndham president
and CEO Geoff Ballotti.
Overall, infrastructure-related and other essential business
travel was a major contributor to Wyndham’s successful first quarter. “Strong
leisure and everyday business travel demand drove RevPAR 4 percent above 2019
levels domestically,” said Ballotti in a statement released prior the call.
Wyndham executives estimated the $1.2 trillion
infrastructure bill passed by Congress in November would bring new
accommodations-related spend of $550 million, posing a huge opportunity. Ballotti noted that the company's sales
teams were in position to take advantage.
"One of the things we made sure not to do during the
pandemic was say goodbye to our best franchise—global sales and field sales
teams, and we were able to retain," said Ballotti. "And not only
that, we are adding more of those salespeople to our GSO and field sales teams
today to sign accounts who we know will be contracting for this… really
important work."
Wyndham executives highlighted several other initiatives
that will impact business travel: Strong uptake for the company's new Echo
extended-stay brand, which opened its first property in March and already has
deals for 50 more locations; an aggressive launch initiative for the Wyndham
mobile app, which Ballotti said has already "reduced staffing levels"
for locations that have adopted its check-in, check-out and mobile room key
functions; and new minimum sustainability requirements for all Wyndham franchisees to
achieve by April 2023.
First Quarter Performance Highlights
Wyndham reported revenue for first quarter 2022 at $316
million, an increase of 36 percent over Q1 2021. That figure was largely driven by
U.S. domestic travel, where revenue per available room reached $42.11, a 38
percent increase over first quarter 2021 and reaching 104 percent of the same period in 2019.
Worldwide revenue per available room in first quarter 2022 was $34.06, a 39
percent increase over first quarter 2021 and 4 percent shy of first
quarter 2019. Looking at April month-to-date figures, executives said the
company saw accelerating performance, particularly in the U.S.
Wyndham’s global development pipeline in the first quarter had
about 1,600 hotels and roughly 204,000 rooms. Ballotti said, “Room openings
grew 50 percent more than last year, putting us solidly on track with our full-year
net-room growth guidance.”