In its latest earnings update, Accor reported a “significant rebound” in activity in 2021.
“Despite a disrupted start of the year due to overall health restrictions, 2021 showed significant improvement in our business, as of the spring, with trends picking up month after month right up to December,” said Sébastien Bazin, chairman and CEO of Accor. “We emerge stronger from this crisis and have gained market shares in all our key regions.
“Moreover, our pipeline continues to flourish, with [the] luxury and upscale segment representing close to 40 percent of future openings, a 12-point increase in the past four years. As the desire to escape and to resume traveling has never been stronger, we are well underway to make the most of this rebound in all our markets. In 2022, we will continue to unfold our vision of ever-more experience-driven and sustainable tourism, facilitated by digital technologies. Armed with these strengths, we are confident in our capacity to enduringly continue creating value for our partners as well as our shareholders.”
Rebounding
As of April, Accor reported a sequential rebound in business, with revenue per available room improving month over month. This improvement in demand meant that average room rates came close to (or, in some destinations at the end of 2021, exceeded) pre-COVID-19 levels.
During 2021, Accor organically opened 288 hotels with 41,000 rooms, resulting in a net growth in the network of 3 percent over the 12-month period. At the end of December, the group had a hotel portfolio of 777,714 rooms with 5,298 hotels and a pipeline of 214,000 rooms in 1,218 hotels.
For 2022, the group expects a net unit growth of 3.5 percent. Among new developments, the Raffles Boston Back Bay Hotel & Residences is scheduled to open later this year. The 35-story building will have 146 residences, 147 guestrooms and six food-and-beverage venues.
Consolidated Revenue
For 2021, the group reported a consolidated revenue of €2.204 billion, up 34 percent like-for-like compared to 2020. By activity, this growth breaks down into a 36 percent increase for HotelServices and 29 percent for hotel assets and other. The like-for-like decline in revenue versus full-year 2019 is -42 percent.
Changes in the scope of consolidation (acquisitions and disposals) contributed €47 million, largely due to the full consolidation of SBE since Q4 2020.
Currency effects had a negative impact of minus-€13 million, mainly due to the U.S. dollar.
Americas Revenue
In the Americas, RevPAR improved 18 percentage points between the third and fourth quarters, translating into a full-year 2021 RevPAR that was down 46 percent compared with 2019.
North and Central America and the Caribbean reported RevPAR declines of 48 percent for 2021 compared to 2019. The easing of travel restrictions between Canada and the U.S. as well as the Christmas holiday season accelerated the end-of-year improvement.
With the omicron variant COVID outbreak, January 2022 marked a pause in the monthly RevPAR improvement seen since April, but the company noted that February is already a turning point.