Accor is seeing business recovery despite recording a first-half loss of €120 million.
The French hotel and hospitality giant saw revenue per available room (revpar) drop by 60% against the same pre-pandemic period in 2019.
Revenue for the six months fell by 53% to €824 million.
The decline in revpar “masks very mixed situations by country,” the company said. “Certain regions experienced a remarkable improvement from the first quarter of the year, while others continued to be hard-hit by government restrictions linked to the Covid-19 health crisis.”
London was most affected in the UK with revpar down 79% against a lesser decline in regional cities of 60%.
Chairman and chief executive Sebastien Bazin said: “Since May, we have seen a clear recovery. Positive signs including the ramp up of vaccine roll out and the progressive reopening of borders will continue throughout the summer.
“In the first half of the year, Accor significantly improved its operating performance. Furthermore, we continued to efficiently and cautiously manage our liquidity and investments.
“We are therefore prepared for the rebound with a solid balance sheet and an increasingly agile and efficient organisational structure.
“It is still too early to fully define the outlook for the end of the year, but we are confident in our ability to capture recovery in all geographies and to put into place a reinvented vision of travel.”
The group opened 121 hotels representing 15,000 rooms in the first half and agreed the disposal of Movenpick leased hotels
The pace of new openings was subdued as hotel owners are “cautiously monitoring” the travel rebound.