Wyndham: Blue-Collar Business Travel Solid in Q2

Business travel demand related to logistics and infrastructure, including trucking, in the second quarter increased from levels in the second quarter of 2019 for Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, CEO Geoffrey Ballotti said Thursday during the company’s quarterly earnings call.

“Our infrastructure, construction and logistics accounts continue to outperform the broader white-collar business transit and group segments,” Ballotti said, adding that second-quarter demand from the infrastructure segment increased 23 percent from the second quarter of 2019, and logistics and trucking demand increased 11 percent.

“We continue to believe that business provided to our hotels from small and medium-sized companies in these industries will grow at a faster rate in the coming years than business from corporate group and convention travel, which … have historically accounted for less than 5 percent of our room nights domestically,” said Ballotti. He added that the infrastructure bill currently under consideration by the U.S. Senate could further juice demand in those segments, which comprise the vast majority of Wyndham’s corporate clientele.

Global second-quarter revenue per available room for Wyndham declined 17 percent on a constant-currency basis from its second-quarter 2019 level to $36.92, but 5 percent domestically.

Domestic RevPAR for Wyndham’s economy brands in June and so far in July have exceeded 2019 levels, CFO Michele Allen said during the call.

Still, Wyndham projects a full-year 2021 RevPAR decline of 16 percent from 2019 levels, which Ballotti attributed to slower recovery in some overseas locales.

Wyndham as of June 30 had 798,000 rooms in its system throughout the world, up from 795,000 on Dec. 30, 2020. The company’s U.S. rooms declined by about 2,500 during that period to 484,800. Wyndham as of June 30 had more than 1,400 hotels and 190,000 rooms in its development pipeline, 64 percent of which are outside the United States and 74 of which are new builds.

Wyndham’s second-quarter revenue of $406 million was 57 percent higher than the second quarter of 2020.

Chris Davis https://www.businesstravelnews.com/Procurement/Wyndham-Blue-Collar-Business-Travel-Solid-in-Q2