Marriott’s fees are climbing just as some of its hotel owners push for a bigger share of them.
Gross fees rose 14% to $1.52 billion in the third quarter, helped by a larger hotel network and by co-branded credit card fees, which Chief Financial Officer Jen Mason said on a Monday earnings call were “expected to rise in the high 30% range” for the full year. A group of owners wrote to Marriott’s management earlier this year asking for a bigger share of loyalty income, citing the card fees in particular. Net income rose 17% to $790 million.
Strong results may also give Marriott more leverage in those talks. Worldwide revenue per available room (RevPAR) rose 6.5% year over year, far above the 3.5% to 4% the company had projected in August, and Mason cited “a solid improvement in hotel margins.”
The gains reached the hotels that had been struggling most. Limited-service hotels posted a third consecutive quarter of RevPAR gains, up more than 6%.
