While luxury and resort properties continued to lead RevPAR growth in the first quarter, Marriott International's select-service hotels in the U.S. and Canada enjoyed a notable turnaround, posting Q1 RevPAR growth of 3.5%.
"To go from relative weakness in the select-service tier to about 3.5% RevPAR growth in the first quarter, I think it's a really, really encouraging sign about continued strength, really across all the tiers where we operate," Marriott CEO Anthony Capuano told analysts during the company's Wednesday earnings call. In the U.S. and Canada, select-service RevPAR had declined more than 1% in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Luxury RevPAR, meanwhile, rose nearly 7% in the region for Q1.
Capuano attributed select-service's improvement to several factors, including a shift toward domestic and drive-to destinations.
"I do think you're seeing some pivot to domestic travel because of some of the uncertainty," he explained. "You are seeing some pivot to drive-to destinations versus fly-to destinations, given the impact of rising fuel prices on airline fares, and I think all of those dynamics are positively impactful to the lower chain scales where we operate."
Marriott's global RevPAR increased 4.2% in the quarter, though performance was tempered by the Iran war, which caused March RevPAR in the Middle East to drop more than 30%, according to Capuano.
Marriott CFO Jen Mason said the war is expected to impact full-year global RevPAR growth by 100 to 125 basis points, with the second quarter expected to be the "hardest hit quarter," with an anticipated 50% decline in Middle East RevPAR. She estimated that the region accounts for 3% of Marriott's open rooms and 7% of pipeline rooms.
The war has also affected markets dependent on Middle East air connectivity, including India and the Maldives, though Mason said those impacts are expected to ease in the second half of the year.
In Europe, impact was more limited. Capuano said RevPAR in Europe rose 4%, with the war's effect "relatively minimal and largely contained to countries near the Middle East, such as Cyprus and Azerbaijan."
U.S. and Canada RevPAR rose 4% in the quarter, while Caribbean and Latin America RevPAR rose 2%, with record leisure results in the Caribbean "partially offset by a decline in RevPAR at Mexican luxury resorts," according to Capuano.
Excluding Greater China, Asia Pacific led international markets with first-quarter RevPAR up over 7%. Greater China RevPAR increased nearly 6%.
The World Cup's impact
Despite reports of weakening demand for the World Cup, Mason said Marriott still expects the event to add 30 to 35 basis points to global RevPAR growth this year.
"Despite what you're hearing and reading in the press, we continue to feel confident," she said, adding that total revenues are "pacing up nicely over the match dates and in line with our expectations."
Mason also emphasized that FIFA's room block cancellations, which some in the industry have said exceeded expectations, were anticipated and baked into the company's forecast.
Marriott raised full-year global RevPAR guidance to 2% to 3% growth, with Mason primarily pointing to "higher than previously anticipated" growth in the U.S. and Canada, "with the strength seen across chain scales in the first quarter continuing into April."
Marriott reported first-quarter net income of $648 million, a 3% decrease compared to $665 million in the prior year. Adjusted Ebitda increased 15% to $1.4 billion.