Line concerning company and leisure travel is blurring

Marriott Intercontinental CEO Tony Capuano told CNBC on Monday the distinction in between business and leisure travel is fading, a welcome development for the resort operator as it recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.

Individuals likely on vacations and other personal trips has led the hospitality industry’s rebound from the Covid-induced problems that hit much more than a calendar year back. The return of outings for corporate reasons is very important for a finish comeback, while, and there have been questions about how extensive it will just take for that to return to pre-pandemic concentrations — if ever.

“We do assume you can expect to see a steady return of company,” Capuano stated in an job interview on “Squawk on the Road,” noting that, in mainland China, organization-travel desire in March was 5% over exactly where it was in March 2019. China’s economic recovery timeline is frequently believed to be several months in advance of the U.S.

Nevertheless, Capuano mentioned Marriott could benefit from a broader change in the way corporate journey is considered after the pandemic, when quite a few white-collar workers are envisioned to have increased overall flexibility close to likely into the place of work following the essential embrace of distant do the job due to Covid.

As far more persons return to the business office, company travel will decide up, Capuano reported. “The matter that will be exciting to check out, I consider it is going to be much less distinct what the trip objective is,” he reported.

“Significantly we are looking at individuals that say, ‘I can mix journey uses. I can incorporate leisure with business enterprise vacation.’ And we feel that’s really great news for our hotels throughout the nation,” claimed Capuano, who has led Marriott given that February. He took more than for the late Arne Sorenson.

Capuano’s remarks Monday arrived soon soon after the Maryland-primarily based organization reported initial-quarter financial effects. Marriott’s altered earnings per share of 10 cents topped consensus estimates of 4 cents, in accordance to FactSet, even though quarterly revenue of $2.32 billion was beneath projections of $2.38 billion.

Marriott shares fell by more than 3% Monday to trade all around $142 apiece. The inventory is up about 7% yr to day.