April 28 (Reuters) – Accor, Europe’s biggest hotel group, said on Thursday it expects domestic demand to return to levels comparable to 2019 by the end of the year, citing a jump in sales in the first quarter.
The global travel industry is recovering from the impact of the coronavirus crisis, as vaccination campaigns against COVID-19 and the lifting of health restrictions have encouraged a rebound in business and leisure travel.
“This recovery is the result of the sustainable rebound of domestic business and leisure customers, and the reopening of borders resulting in an acceleration of the recovery of international customers,” the French group said in a press release.
Accor, which operates 5,300 hotels in 110 countries, added that the recovery in international demand was catching up despite a performance in China “burdened” by the emergence of the Omicron variant and travel restrictions in some Asian countries.
Beijing closed some schools and public places on Thursday as most of the Chinese capital’s 22 million residents were affected by a massive new COVID-19 testing campaign.
“Accor’s performance in the first quarter of 2022 confirms the clear recovery in activity in all regions and the renewed momentum in tourism, catering and leisure,” said Sébastien Bazin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the group, in a statement. a statement.
Accord, which manages the high-end chains Sofitel and Pullman as well as economy brands like Ibis, published a turnover of 701 million euros for the period January-March, up 85% at constant scope, against 361 million euros a year earlier.
The group’s revenue per available room (RevPAR), a key performance indicator for the hospitality industry, more than doubled in the first quarter but is still down 25% from pre-pandemic levels. Accor expects improvement over the next few quarters, based on current bookings and price increases.
Accor also confirmed its forecast of 3.5% net growth in its hotel network for 2022. (Reportage Anait Miridzhanian; French version Augustin Turpin, edited by Jean Terzian)