Global hotel profits perk up, just not in Europe

For Europe, February was another in a string of profitability pain

• Gross operating profit per available room in the U.S. turned positive in February
• Favorable data in the U.S. could not be duplicated in Europe
• Europe continues to be hampered by country-to-country COVID-related lockdowns

The U.S. hotel industry was in need of a month like February. For Europe, it was another in a string of profitability pain.

In a turnaround from previous months, gross operating profit per available room (GOPPAR) in the U.S. turned positive in February and at $10.82, it was 675.5% higher than in January. Though the jump into positivity after eight of the last 10 months being negative was cause for celebration, GOPPAR in February is still 89.5% down over the same time a year ago.

In step with the boost in profit was a jump in both rooms and total revenue. RevPAR was up $14 over January to $50.81, while TRevPAR increased nearly $20 to $73.81. Occupancy in the month nearly closed at 30%, which would have been the highest mark since March 2020. The 7-percentage-point rise in occupancy month over month was coupled by a jump in rate to its highest level since last March.

As revenue ticked upward, expenses remained muted. Total labor on a per-available-room basis was $33.13, which is 67.1% lower than at the same time last year and less than $2 up on last month.

Undistributed departmental expenses remained depressed across the board YOY, including utilities, down 22.9%. Total overhead costs were down 49.6% YOY.

Profit margin was recorded at 14.7%—its highest level since last February and only the third time in 12 months that the KPI was positive.