Marriott’s Earnings and Growth in Luxury Travel Highlight K-Shaped Economy

It’s not the destination, it’s the journey — and in this economy, Americans are taking very different ones. 

Marriott’s fourth-quarter earnings report shows that well-heeled travellers are still shelling out for top-tier accommodations while budget and middle-income travellers are pulling back. A key industry metric, revenue per available room, jumped more than 6% for global luxury hotels in the fourth quarter. The hotel giant’s overseas travel business also helped boost the company’s results, with 6.1% growth for revenue per available room in international markets compared to a 0.1% decline in the US and Canada. 

That slowdown close to home reflected the impact of the government shutdown late last year, especially on business travellers, Marriott CEO Anthony Capuano said via the company’s news release. And a deep divide for American consumers. 

“The K-shaped economy is certainly impacting the travel vertical,” Capuano told CNBC. 

Puttin’ on the Ritz

Despite missing Wall Street’s expectations, Marriott’s stock gained 9% on Tuesday thanks to a 2026 outlook that included revenue per available room growing between 1.5% and 2.5%. Investors also loved the company’s expectation for its co-branded credit card fees to jump 35%. 

And Marriott expects big spenders to keep spending big, which is especially good news for a company with about 10% of its global inventory and 10% of its global pipeline in the luxury tier:

• “When you look internationally, there is an almost insatiable demand for luxury,” Capuano said on a post-earnings call. 
• Leeny Oberg, Marriott’s chief financial officer, indicated that she expects luxury travel to continue to be so strong, it could offset the slowdown in business travel seen since the pandemic. 

Comeback for Corporate? Putting employees on planes for in-person meetings may have taken a backseat for many companies in recent years, but that could soon make a turnaround. A survey from Morgan Stanley published at the end of December showed that 61% of respondents said they are very optimistic” or “somewhat optimistic” about the 2026 outlook for business travel, up from 50% in a 2025 mid-year survey. “Hotel bookings are predicted to increase 6.3%, with room rates up 3.9%, while the impact of virtual meetings on travel continues to shrink,” according to Morgan Stanley.