Marriott International posted Q3 global RevPAR growth of 0.5%, hampered by a 0.4% RevPAR decline in the U.S. and Canada that the company attributed to "weaker demand in the lower chain scales" and reduced government travel.
"The slight RevPAR decrease in the U.S. and Canada was driven by declines in select-service brands, which offset nice gains in luxury," said Marriott CEO Anthony Capuano during a Tuesday call with analysts.
Indeed, Marriott's luxury segment continued to show resilience during the quarter, thanks to both strong demand and rate performance. Globally, Marriott's luxury RevPAR was up 4% for Q3, with Capuano calling that increase "a pretty powerful illustration of the strength and appetite of that luxury consumer."
Capuano added that the group's portfolio is "well positioned to benefit from out-performance at the upper end." Around 10% of Marriott's rooms play in the luxury segment, and 42% are in the full-service premium segment on a global basis, he said.
Breaking things down by demand segments, Capuano reported that global leisure transient RevPAR rose 1%, while business transient was flat and group RevPAR decreased 2%.
The company's sluggish North American performance was buoyed by stronger international results. International RevPAR for the quarter was up 2.6%, led by Asia-Pacific. Asia-Pacific excluding China posted nearly 5% RevPAR growth, fueled by strength in key markets like Japan, Australia and Vietnam, as well as "robust ADR growth and higher demand from international travelers, particularly from Greater China and Europe."
For the quarter, Marriott reported adjusted Ebitda of $1.35 billion, up from $1.23 billion in the same period last year. Third-quarter total revenue was $6.49 billion, up from $6.26 billion a year prior.
The company maintained its full-year RevPAR growth forecast of 1.5% to 2.5% globally.
Correction: Group RevPAR decreased 2%. An earlier version of this report incorrectly said it increased.