Expect Marriott to Tell This Growth Story This Week

The hotel industry’s first quarter earnings calls have been a financial albatross amid all the optimistic drum beating about the upcoming summer travel season. Revenues were still way down from pre-pandemic performance. Hyatt lost $304 million while Hilton lost $109 million. UK-based IHG and Paris-based Accor, neither required to post quarterly loss statements, noted ongoing European lockdowns severely hampered business. But the leaders of each of these companies focused more on what a cash cow the summer might be, given loosening travel restrictions and pent-up demand. Marriott, which reports its latest financial results Monday, will almost certainly do the same. But it’s also likely to point to several relatively new leisure-focused growth drivers. Resorts and Rentals: All-inclusive resorts and vacation rentals are almost guaranteed to be a key part of Monday’s investor call. Marriott added 19 all-inclusive resorts to its portfolio earlier this year, and the company’s CEO Tony Capuano led the initiative well before taking the top job at the company in February. “We are seeing leisure-transient lead the recovery. That’s not for a moment to suggest we aren’t seeing green shoots in business travel and even a bit of small group, but leisure transient has a pretty good head start,” Capuano told Skift earlier this year following the all-inclusive deal. “This allows us to continue to build on that leisure-transient recovery.” Homes & Villas by Marriott International, the vacation rental platform the company launched in 2019, should also be a leading growth story. Marriott’s leaders reported thousands of new listings to the vacation rental division on several of the company’s most recent earnings calls, and that trend isn’t expected to dissipate. Marriott inked a deal with short-term rental platform Frontdesk late last