The world's largest hotel groups have gained almost $50bn in market value this year, as executives hail "unbelievably resilient" demand despite higher airline fares, travel disruption and rising inflation caused by the war in the Middle East.
Marriott, the world's largest hotel group, this week raised its full-year room revenue growth forecast to between 4.5 per cent and 5 per cent, its third upgrade this year. Wealthier travellers have spent more on luxury holidays, while those lower down the income scale also spent more. Chief executive Anthony Capuano described leisure travel demand as the industry's "bright shining star", particularly in Europe. Hyatt and Hilton also lifted their 2026 outlooks last month, despite a hit on demand for rooms in the Middle East. Hilton now expects revenue per available room to grow between 4 per cent and 4.5 per cent this year.
Stock gains among the 10 largest publicly traded specialist hotel groups have been led by Marriott and Hilton, whose shares are up 34 per cent and 31 per cent respectively this year. Travel stocks emerged relatively unscathed from this week's AI-focused stock market rout. The Iran war caused flight cancellations and airspace closures, and an oil price shock pushed up the cost of jet fuel and petrol. Yet beyond the immediately affected region, operators said holiday demand had been surprisingly strong. Booking Holdings reported record gross bookings of $54.5bn for the three months to September, up 10 per cent year on year. Chief executive Glenn Fogel said travellers "will trade off many other things before they cancel their travel."
The resilience contrasts with other consumer spending. Ikea reported retail sales fell 2 per cent to €43.8bn in the year to August and expects weak consumer confidence to suppress revenues ahead. Spending on travel, however, rose 8.9 per cent year on year in September among Bank of America cardholders in the US.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing