A business clientele that has returned substantially to 2019 levels, accelerating demand from MICE groups, combined with a leisure clientele that continues to develop at high altitudes: all these factors contribute to put a smile on your face to the heads of hotel groups. The results for 2024, which have been released in quick succession over the last few days, all point to solid growth for the world's leading hotel groups. Marriott and Hyatt reported growth in revenue per room (RevPAR) of around +4.5 1TP3Q for the past year. For IHG, the increase was +3.0% and +2.7% for Hilton.
As for Accor, the results of the French group recorded even stronger growthRevPAR rose by +5.7%, ahead of forecasts for RevPAR growth of between +4% and +5%. In this context, the luxury and lifestyle division posted an increase of 7.3%, compared with +4.9% for premium, mid-range and economy hotels. "The hotel industry continued to show its resilience in 2025, in an environment that is becoming more normal.said Martine Gerow, Accor's Chief Financial Officer. Revenue per room was driven by both the leisure and business segments. In the latter segment, and more particularly among key accounts, RevPAR achieved double-digit growth, driven by our customers in the tech and finance sectors." .
For his part, the CEO of the French group, Sébastien Bazin, while noting that the length of stay has increased from 20 to 25% since the pandemic in the light of environmental concerns, emphasised the difficulty of distinguishing the main purpose of travel, between leisure or business: " Bleisure is truer today than ever before. People tend to travel from Thursday evening to Tuesday morning, working remotely on Fridays and Mondays while enjoying a long weekend."
Alongside mega sporting, festive or cultural events such as the Olympic Games or Taylor Swift concerts, which are playing an increasingly important role in the business of hotel groups, individual business travel played its part last year. At Marriott, business travel grew by +3% in RevPAR worldwide in 2024. Or growth equal to that of leisure customers. Similarly, Hilton also reported a +3% increase in the business segment in the last quarter, with Christopher Nassetta, the group's CEO, explaining that this was also due to the continuing recovery in large companies, " particularly at tech leaders and major banks" .
Large companies still lagging behind
However, while the volume of individual business travellers has returned to pre-pandemic levels, the dynamic has changed. Unlike SMEs, which recovered more quickly, large groups generated, within the Marriott group, a number of nights of "significantly below 2019 levels" says Leeny Oberg, CFO of the Marriott Group. although some sectors, such as finance, are already recovering beyond pre-pandemic levels" . As for all large companies, "thehe gradual recovery seen in 2024 should continue in 2025" she predicts.
This still incomplete return to business is reflected in the activity of hotels, particularly those of the Hilton group. "While overall hotel occupancy is higher than in 2019, we are still seeing disparities from day to day, with a delay in occupancy from Monday to Wednesday and exceeded pre-COVID levels from Thursday to Sunday" stresses Christopher Nassetta.
IHG's figures also show this difference. While RevPAR in the Business segment rose by +2% last year, this result was due more to the +3% increase in the average price than to the number of individual business travellers, down by 1 point compared with 2023 in its network of 6,600 hotels. But this result also includes geographical disparities with a decline in the business segment of -5% in China, a limited increase of 2% on the American continent, while in the rest of the world, revenue per room generated by business travellers rose by +6%.
At the same time, all the major hotel groups agree that the very positive trend in MICEThis contributed to growth in the Groups segment. With 2 pts more occupancy and an average price 4% higher, RevPAR in this segment increased by 6% at IHG and 8% at Marriott, and by 3% at Hilton. Hilton's CEO is optimistic about the future, given the events already planned: " booking windows continued to lengthen and strong demand for conventions and corporate meetings led to higher prices for future periods" .
2025 on track
This momentum is set to continue this year. At Marriott, " the revenues expected by the groups for 2025 to the end of 2024 were up by 6% for 2025, and 10% for the following year, based on an increase in both the number of nights and the average price" says its CEO, Anthony Capuano. Its CFO, Leeny Oberg, even sees this segment as "a very important one". the likely leader in RevPAR growth in 2025. Expecting growth to be driven more by the rise in average prices than by visitor numbers, it is forecasting stability or even slight growth in the leisure segment, while " individual business travel will confirm its robustness in this macroeconomic environment, with an increase of a few per cent" .
For the current year, both Marriott and Hyatt expect overall RevPAR growth to reach between 2% and 4% worldwide, while Hilton is forecasting growth of between +2% and +3%. Without giving precise figures for the current year, Accor confirms its forecasts for the period 2023-2027, i.e. growth of between 3% and 4% each year.
