Skift Take
Middle-income U.S. consumers have yet to let price hikes or declining savings get in the way of booking travel. Wyndham benefited in the fourth quarter. Yet the world's largest hotel franchisor expects rate gains to plateau in 2023.
Middle-income consumers paid premiums for hotel rooms as pent-up demand and savings boosted people's taste for travel post-pandemic. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, the world's largest hotel franchisor — whose brands mostly target these consumers — enjoyed quarter-after-quarter of room rate gains throughout 2022.
"By any account, it was an outstanding year for Wyndham," said Geoff Ballotti, president and CEO, on a call with analysts on Thursday. "Our middle-class customers continue to spend more on travel than they ever have, and they are staying longer than they were back in 2019, given hybrid work environments."
In 2022, Wyndham saw its U.S. revenue per available room — a key industry metric — rise 12 percent compared to 2019, thanks primarily to stronger pri