Meliá Reports First Quarter Results

Progress in occupancy and prices boosts Meliá revenues

Gabriel Escarrer Jaume, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Meliá Hotels International:

The first quarter of the year confirms a recovery of tourism worldwide, not only in the resort and urban leisure segments, but also in groups and business (MICE segment). The behaviour of demand still shows the "revenge" or "champagne bottle" effect that was triggered by the lifting of pandemic-related restrictions, while a more structured demand behaviour seems to be consolidating, reflecting the growing priority assigned to travelling in the life and consumption habits of the main markets, even in spite of inflationary pressures, interest rate hikes, turmoil in sectors such as energy, and the risk of slowdown in certain markets. This reaction is also noticeable in those countries that withdrew sanitary restrictions later, such as China, Japan or Australia, where the take-off of demand for travel abroad is strongly tangible from the 2nd quarter of 2023, especially to the destinations in Southeast Asia.

At the same time, we can see how a number of trends that already emerged during 2022 are now consolidating and shaping this new phase, which attests to the soundness of the strategy deployed by our Company in terms of digitalisation, brands and experiences, sustainability, and a focus on people and talent; trends such as a preference for premium and luxury hotels and rooms, a shift towards "purposeful" experiences, last-minute bookings—although with a growing share of advance bookings—and a healthy return to the nationality "mix" among feeder markets in our main destinations.

This strategic strength together with a solid demand have enabled us to speed up the return to normal operating levels practically one year ahead of forecasts, even though the inflationary context continues to make it difficult to pass on such progress to margins and results in the same proportion, which is why we are still focusing on promoting not only revenue growth, but also cost control and the optimisation of our operating margins.

With a view to the immediate future, and always with the necessary degree of caution, we foresee a positive summer season both in price evolution and occupancy levels, which could finally surpass those recorded in 2019, while also envisaging ample room for improvement in prices as well as in volume, which comes to reinforce our cautiously optimistic outlook for the year.​

Link Directly to source Meliá Reports First Quarter Results

The Team

at LEADING HOTELIERS NETWORK / JOB LEAD SERVICE