“I was wrong three years ago when I said we’re probably going to stand to lose 25% of corporate travel forever because of this ability to work remotely,” said Sébastien Bazin, CEO of the Accor Group, speaking on a fourth quarter earnings call. He continued, “We are already at 90% of the level of 2019. So they’re not only coming back, but they’re coming back much quicker than I ever expected.”
Bazin is now projecting an additional average 8% year-over-year increase in 2024 business travel spending “from major corporate organizations.” He added that business travel is now “a different mix,” with fewer people going alone from Seattle to Singapore or groups of 500 attending webinars. Now, he said it’s smaller groups representing a larger number of small and medium-sized enterprises, “but it is a very strong component of Accor and the rest of my peers.”
Accor’s systemwide fourth-quarter revenue per available room (RevPAR) increased 11.1% year over year to $79.08, while average daily rate (ADR) increased 6.7% to $120, and occupancy increased 2.6 percentage points to 65.8%. Full-year 2023 systemwide RevPAR increased 22.7% year over year to $79.07, while ADR increased 11.8% to $119.14, and occupancy grew 6 percentage points to 66%. Image: Shutterstock/HJBC