Two years after the beginning of the health crisis, it would seem that the actors in the tourism sector as a whole have recovered, as shown by their rising performance indicators. Zoom on the results published by IHG, Wyndham, CapitaLand and the Compagnie des Alpes.

For the IHG Group, the vast majority of performance indicators are up significantly in the third quarter of 2022. Indeed, RevPAR is up 28% compared to 2021 and 2.7% compared to 2019. The Americas are on a positive trend with RevPAR growing by 6.8% while EMEA is down 0.1%.

As for China, this region is still lagging behind, due in particular to the various health restrictions still in place, with RevPAR down by 20%. However, this rate shows some improvement compared to the first two quarters of 2019 when it was down 42% and 49% respectively.

The group's average daily rate is also up in this third quarter, with growth of 13% compared to 2019 and 8% compared to 2021. As for the network's gross size growth, it stands at +4.3% year-on-year thanks to the opening of 8,000 rooms, or 51 hotels.

Growth was similar to the second quarter and higher than the first. The net growth in the size of the system also recorded good momentum with a 2.6% year-on-year increase. Finally, IHG signed 13,200 rooms, or 89 hotels, in the third quarter, bringing the group's overall pipeline to 278,000 rooms, up 2.9% year-on-year. 

Strong third quarter activity assisted our group-wide RevPAR to exceed pre-pandemic levels. Leisure stays saw a 12% increase in room revenue over 2019, while the continued return of business and group travel strengthened each quarter throughout the year. [...] n an environment of inflationary pressure in most economies around the world, the strength of IHG's brands is evident with rates up 11% compared to 2019. In addition to leisure rates increasing by around 15% in the quarter, business rates increased by 7% and group business also saw rates move into positive territory compared to 2019 levels. The sector is experiencing lower levels of new hotel openings, with a particular impact from restrictions in China. We remain focused on our strategy to grow IHG's portfolio of brands, invest in cutting-edge technology and transform our loyalty programme. These are strongly attracting hotel owners to join our corporate platform, and we continue to explore a number of organic opportunities to assist in achieving our ambitions for net system size growth. We have also demonstrated the resilience of our business model and IHG's ability to respond and adapt to macroeconomic opportunities and uncertainties. 

Keith Barr, CEO, IHG Hotels & Resorts

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has also just announced its results for the third quarter of 2022. Global RevPAR increased by 12% compared to the third quarter of 2021, resulting in a net profit of $101 million and adjusted net profit of $108 million. The decrease in net profit was primarily due to the exit of the company's select service management business and owned hotels, partially offset by higher adjusted EBITDA in the company's hotel operator franchise segment. In addition, revenues in the hotel operator franchise segment increased by 9% year-on-year.

On the growth side, system-wide rooms increased 4% year-over-year, including 1% growth in the US and 9% growth internationally. The development pipeline grew 10% year-over-year to 212,000 rooms and development signings in the US increased 82%, including 48 new construction projects for the company's new extended-stay brand, bringing the total to 120 since the launch in March. Approximately 60% of the Company's development pipeline is international and 80% is new construction, of which approximately 36% has been started.

On 8 September 2022, the Company completed the acquisition of the Vienna House brand, adding an upscale and midscale portfolio of more than 40 hotels and over 6,400 rooms to the Company's existing footprint in the EMEA region.  The purchase price was $44 million.

With our brands delivering record RevPAR in the U.S. and our global development teams driving net unit growth towards the top of our initial guidance, we are raising our outlook for the full year 2022.  Despite the broader macroeconomic climate, we are confident in the continued resilience of our franchise model as we continue to invest in the business and generate substantial returns for shareholders. This quarter we increased our development pipeline by 10%, exceeded our full year development target for our new extended stay brand and completed the acquisition of our 23rd brand - Vienna House.  We remain committed to a disciplined capital allocation strategy that will deliver exceptional value to our shareholders, guests, franchisees and team members in any environment.

Geoffrey A. Ballotti, CEO of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts 

CapitaLand reports a similarly successful third quarter with revenue and gross margin up significantly on the prior year due to the addition of 7 new properties and the contribution of Wildwood Lubbock for the quarter as a whole. RevPAR for the overall portfolio increased 88% year-on-year to A$132, representing approximately 87% of Q3 2019 RevPAR.

The increase was driven by higher occupancy rates, which were above 70% in 3Q 2022, and higher average daily rates. China and Singapore recorded the strongest quarter-on-quarter growth of 28% and 27% respectively. Australia and the US continue to perform close to pre-Covid levels.

Gross profit from head leases increased year-on-year due to higher variable rent. Long stay properties contributed 15% of Q3 2022 gross profit.Property occupancy remained stable at 95%, while student accommodation is 99% let for the academic year.

As for Compagnie des Alpes, the good performance achieved during the first three half-years of the 2021/2022 financial year was confirmed during the summer. The annual turnover of the Caisse des Dépôts subsidiary stands at 958.5 million euros for the 2021/2022 financial year, an increase of 17.8% compared to the 2018/2019 financial year. Performance largely driven by the Company's amusement parks, which posted a turnover of €468.5 million, an increase of 23.1% compared to 2018/2019.

More than 10 million visitors walked the aisles of the various amusement parks owned by the group, representing an increase of 6%, with in particular attendance records such as at Parc Astérix. On the ski areas side, they recorded a turnover of 455.5 million euros, an increase of 12.8% compared to 2018/2019. "The activity was particularly dynamic throughout the ski season" according to the group.

Compagnie des Alpes also notes a notable increase in spending per visitor, which stands at +17%. A good dynamic which, according to the group, comes from a "very dynamic commercial strategy". In addition, sites that have recently benefited from major investments, such as Futuroscope and Parc Astérix, have performed better.

In the financial year 2021/22, the turnover of "Holdings and Supports", which includes the Travelfactory activity, increased by 17.1% compared to 2018/19, reaching 34.6 million euros. This division recorded a "very good" level of activity thanks to French customers but also thanks to Belgian, Dutch and British tourists. In addition, the rail link between London and Moûtiers/Bourg-Saint-Maurice inaugurated last winter will be renewed during the coming winter season.

With such a turnover, the Company expects a gross operating surplus "higher" than that of the 2018/2019 financial year. Furthermore, the group assures that "the impact of the increase in energy costs will be relatively low on the annual results for 2021/2022". As a result, the envelope dedicated to its investments next year has even been increased from 160 million to 175 million euros. Thus, this good dynamic allows the group to maintain its development and transformation projects in the short and medium term, including the recent acquisition of 85% of the capital of MMV.

These results are up for both groups and confirm the recovery of the tourism business worldwide and the return to profitability of the major actors in the sector. A few weeks earlier, it was the Accor group that revealed a return to a certain financial equilibrium with results and performances that were clearly up compared to the two previous years marked by the pandemic.