By Laura Lenkiewicz
(Reuters) -Europe's biggest hotel group Accor (EPA:ACCP) on Thursday raised its annual core profit outlook a month after providing it, citing continued strong demand for leisure and business travel across its markets.
The operator of brands such as Ibis or Novotel sees 2023 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 930-970 million euros ($1.03-1.08 billion), up from the prior forecast of 920-960 million it gave on June 27.
Demand for leisure travel has soared again in the northern hemisphere summer season despite the scorching heat and inflationary pressures that erode consumers' spending power.
Accor's half-year EBITDA more than doubled to 447 million euros ($496.21 million) on a like-for-like basis, helped by improved occupancy and higher room rates. This was a touch below the forecast of 449 million in a company-compiled poll of analysts.
Accor highlighted strong recovery in China since the start of 2023, and said there was still room for "considerable" growth as business had not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Revenue per available room (RevPAR), a key industry gauge of performance for the hotel industry, rose 38% on the group level, while jumping 51% in the Middle East, Asia and Pacific region.
The recent riots in France had no significant impact on summer bookings, Accor's new finance chief Martine Gerow said in call with journalists.
($1 = 0.9014 euros)