’ Hotel operator Marriott International is among the spate of leisure companies that said demand for travel was normalising, particularly in the US and Canada. Revenue per available room (RevPAR) or room revenue for leisure travellers from the region was flat year on year during the first quarter. Meanwhile US online travel site Expedia cited lower than expected growth in gross bookings for lowering its full-year guidance. At Southwest Airlines, first quarter revenue per available seat mile (RASM) came in at the low end of the airline’s own forecast amid softening demand from leisure passengers. Even Airbnb is seeing a slowdown. It said customers booked 132.6mn nights and experiences in the first quarter. That was 9.5 per cent ahead of the same period a year earlier, but the slowest pace of growth since the pandemic.
Overall, RevPAR for the hotel industry in the US fell 2.2 per cent in March, the first year-on-year drop since the pandemic, according to CoStar, a property data group. The decline in pricing power should come as no surprise. US hotel occupancy has declined year over year for 12 consecutive months, decreasing 2.5 per cent year on year in March.’