A strong rebound in travel in Asia contributed to a 54% year-on-year uplift in first quarter revenues to €1.1 billion for French hospitality giant Accor.
Revenue per available room (revpar) rose by 19% compared with the same three months in pre-pandemic 2019 and was up 57% against the first quarter of last year.
This reflected a rebound of hotels in Asia following the lifting of the strict zero-Covid policy in China in late 2022.
“All the other regions also contributed to maintaining business activity at a substantially higher level than before the crisis,” Accor said.
“The underlying dynamics observed in previous quarters remained in place, with average prices still high and sequentially improving occupancy rate but slightly lower than in 2019.”
The UK achieved 13% of room revenue for the company’s Europe and North Africa region by achieving “remarkable” revpar growth thanks to the recovery of tourism to London.
Accor now expects double-digit revpar growth this year over 2022, up from previous guidance of between 5%-9%.
Accor opened 36 hotels with around 4,400 rooms in the quarter to give a total of 800,321 rooms across 5,444 hotels and a pipeline of around 214,000 rooms in 1,241 properties.
Chairman and chief executive Sebastien Bazin said: “In first quarter 2023, Accor once again stepped-up business growth across all regions and in its two divisions – Premium, Midscale and Economy; and Luxury & Lifestyle.
“These excellent performances were driven in particular by the strong rebound in Asia, good price levels, and increased occupancy rates.
“They reflect the attractiveness of our brands, the commitment of our teams, and an ever-greater desire for travel and adventure on the part of our guests.
“Given this highly positive start of the year, we have revised our 2023 guidance upwards, with double-digit revpar growth versus 2022.”
Accor plans a capital market day on June 27 to provide more details on the strategy of each of its two new divisions and the expected outlook.