(Reuters) -Marriott International Inc raised its full-year adjusted profit forecast on Tuesday, as the U.S. hotel operator benefits from pent-up demand for leisure and business travel.
Flexible work arrangements have fueled travel demand and helped hotel operators to improve their margins after they took a beating during the pandemic.
The travel industry has also benefited in the last few quarters from a strong U.S. dollar.
Marriott, which owns hotels such as Sheraton, Westin and St. Regis, has seen a steady uptick in bookings, even as experts have raised concerns that high inflation and fears of an economic slowdown could dent consumer spending.
Marriott posted a 34.3% rise in its first-quarter revenue per available room, a key measure for a hotel’s top-line performance, for the quarter ended March, from a year earlier on a constant currency basis.
The company expects full-year adjusted profit between $7.97 and $8.42 per share, compared with its prior forecast of $7.23 to $7.91.
(Reporting by Priyamvada C in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
