Marriott’s back in the black thanks to a resurgent business travel market.
Last year the US-based company – which includes the Marriott, Residence Inn and Ritz-Carlton hotels in its portfolio – suffered a loss of $US466 million, but the numbers for 2010 record a net profit of $US83 million.
“Corporate and leisure demand continues to strengthen and we are leading the US industry in pushing retail price increases” Marriott chief executive J.W. ‘Bill’ Marriott said in a statement.
Roughly 90 per cent of hotels and resorts under the company’s flagship Marriott brand in North America saw their corporate retail rates rise in the third quarter.
Business travel accounts for 80 per cent of Marriott's business, FBR Capital Markets analyst Patrick Scholes told news agency Reuters.
“It's business that moves the needle for Marriott. Many corporations are still very profitable. Maybe they’re not hiring people, but the people they have are probably doing the work of two people, which means more traveling to get the job done.”
David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
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