Bethesda, Md.-based Marriott International on Friday reported a surprise third-quarter profit, helped by cost cuts and a near doubling of occupancy rates in its North American hotels from the previous quarter as leisure travel rebounded on easing novel coronavirus curbs.
While international travel continues to be affected because of border restrictions in many countries, travel within nations has picked up and resulted in a recovery in occupancy rates for hotel chains.
Marriott, which owns the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton brands, said 94 percent of its hotels around the world had resumed operations.
Occupancy rates in North America, Marriott’s biggest market, rose to 37 percent in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, from 19.6 percent in the second quarter. The company said business and group travel was recovering more slowly.
Greater China was Marriott’s best-performing market in the reported quarter, as occupancy rates jumped to 61.4 percent from 35.5 percent in the second quarter.
Earlier this week, smaller rival Hilton Worldwide also said it had seen a gradual improvement in demand from a pandemic-induced slump after cost cuts helped the company post a surprise quarterly profit.
