Europe laughs, the United States cries. To overstate the case, these are the conclusions of the annual results presented over the last few days by the world's leading hotel groups, led by the US. While the Old Continent was one of their growth engines last year, their performance on home soil left much to be desired. Hilton saw its revenue per room in the United States fall by -0.8% over 2025, while its RevPAR - the sector's key indicator - rose by +5.3% on this side of the Atlantic. Similarly, IHG's RevPAR in the USA fell by -0.1% in 2025, compared with an increase of +4.6% in Europe, buoyed by an excellent end to the year with +7.1% in the fourth quarter, marked by " good growth in every segment, from leisure to business and group travel ".
Conversely, the US hotel industry slammed on the brakes in the final quarter, with RevPAR down 2.0% at IHG and -1.6% at Hilton. The reason for this decline is clear: the shutdown, combined with fewer international travellers. " While RevPAR from individual leisure customers rose by 2 % during the quarter and by 1 % for the group segment, these gains were offset by a 3 % decline in RevPAR from business customers. "commented Anthony Capuano, CEO of Marriott. The main culprit was the revenue generated by government travel, which plunged by 30 % during the 43 days of this budget impasse, and then by -15% thereafter. Marriott and Hyatt, which are less exposed to domestic corporate clients due to the more upmarket and luxurious positioning of their hotel portfolio, while the mid-range and long-stay brands suffered more from the situation, limited the damage with growth of +0.5 % at Hyatt and an almost breakeven result at Marriott, compared with growth of +3.3% in Europe.
Although the majority of their offer is concentrated in the United States, the turbulence experienced at the end of the year did not prevent all these groups from recording growth in their overall results. Marriott reported RevPAR growth of +2.0% worldwide for the year as a whole, driven by a +2.1% increase in average prices, while occupancy remained stable. With regard to business generated by business customers, the Group's Financial Director, Lenny Oberg, notes that revenue generated by groups - MICE in particular - increased by 2% last year, while RevPAR from individual business customers remained " stable over the year as a whole ".
Driven by the luxury and upper upscale segments, Hyatt did even better, recording RevPAR growth of +2.9 %. The IHG group's global RevPAR rose by +1.51TP3Q over the full year, with almost identical increases in occupancy rates and average rates. More modestly, Hilton reported RevPAR growth of +0.4% in 2025, due in particular to a slight decline in occupancy of -0.1 points.
RevPAR growth above expectations at Accor
Often used to leading the way, American hoteliers are lagging behind this year in terms of growth in revenue per room. As the leading hotel operator in Europe and in most other parts of the world outside North America and China, Accor is taking advantage of the momentum in all these regions to report results that exceed its announced targets of annual growth of between 3% and 4% over the 2023-2027 period.
The French group has recorded RevPAR growth of 4.2% for the 2025 financial year, benefiting from its strategy of strengthening its luxury and lifestyle offer and boosted by an acceleration at the end of the year with RevPAR up 7% in the last quarter. " Growth in room revenues was driven by both the leisure and corporate segments, the latter showing remarkable resilience with business even accelerating in the fourth quarter. "commented Martine Gerow, Accor's CFO, when presenting the results.
For example, in the fourth quarter, while its Premium, Midscale and Economy division, comprising the Ibis, Novotel, Mercure and Pullman brands, posted a 5.8 % increase in RevPAR in the final quarter, mainly driven by prices, its luxury and lifestyle hotels outperformed this performance by achieving a 9.5% increase compared with 2024. The focus on these two segments is reflected in a parallel 67% rise in the value of Accor's hotel portfolio. In this context, the possible flotation of its lifestyle-focused subsidiary Ennismore is still being explored, with Accor intending to retain control of "this key growth driver" while capitalising on its momentum according to Sébastien Bazin, the French group's CEO.
Geographically, Accor's three main European markets - France, Germany and the United Kingdom - all posted positive results in the last quarter, particularly Germany. back in positive territory after three quarters of negative growth "Martine Gerow also emphasised the good performance in the Middle East, ". which continues to be a powerful engine for growth ".
The dynamism of the EMEA region is also reflected in IHG's financial results, particularly in the business segment, where RevPAR rose by +5% last year. Buoyed by a 3-point increase in occupancy and a 2% rise in average prices, the growth in business customers outstripped that of groups (+4%) and leisure customers (+3%). This compares with an increase in revenue generated by business travel of 2% overall, and 1% for groups, while the leisure segment remained stable.
In the Middle East, the momentum is also confirmed, with double-digit or almost double-digit annual growth of +8.8% at IHG, +10.2 % at Hyatt and +11.5% at Hilton for the Middle East & Africa. As for the Asia-Pacific region, the picture is mixed, with a dynamic performance in South-East Asia and a Chinese market that remains complicated for hoteliers. IHG's results illustrate this, with growth of +5.5% outside the Greater China region, and a decline of -1.6%, with "business" room revenues of +5.5%. stable overall "However, the number of group customers fell by 4%.
For its part, buoyed by a strong upturn in regional business customers and sustained intra-Asian tourism flows, Marriott posted +8.4% in Asia-Pacific excluding China, while the Group posted a slight increase of +0.4% in China. As in the United States, its more luxury positioning is also working in its favour in this market, as is the case for Hyatt, whose RevPAR rose by +2.8 % in the Greater China region.
Optimism for 2026
What can we expect this year? Pointing out that his forecasts are based on a relatively stable macroeconomic environment, Lenny Oberg expects RevPAR growth of " between 1.5 and 2.5 % "The Marriott Group is one of the world's leading hotel chains. " With the exception of Greater China, where RevPAR will once again be broadly stable, growth in international revenue per room is expected to remain higher than in the United States and Canada. "she believes. And that's even if 2026 looks set to be a better year on the other side of the Atlantic, with business buoyed by the hosting of the football World Cup.
" We are optimistic about 2026, which we expect to be more dynamic than 2025. "Hilton Group CEO Chris Nassetta believes that this is due in part to " a recovery in the United States, underpinned by more favourable economic conditions, major events and a still limited supply of hotels ". But above all " the continued strength of the EMEA region and an improvement in Asia-Pacific "These are expected to drive sales growth from 1 % to 2 % on a like-for-like basis.
While Hyatt is also forecasting further growth in the range of +1.0 % to +3.0 % for 2026, Accor is forecasting a performance in line with its annual RevPAR growth targets of between 3% and 4%, with the strong start to the year confirming positive momentum in both EMEA and Asia Pacific. For its part, IHG is not giving a precise figure, while emphasising its solid fundamentals. In this context, the British group describes a favourable environment for the current year with " less turbulent business conditions in the United States", "stronger demand "and surveys carried out among companies anticipating". an increase in business travel budgets in 2026 ".
American groups are already in agreement as to the winner of the year: MICE. " We believe that group tourism will be the best performing segment this year. We thought so last year too, but for reasons you know, it didn't materialise in the end. "Chris Nassetta commented during the Q&A following the announcement of the annual results. Fingers crossed that there won't be another shutdown...
