Marriott International Inc MAR.O on Friday reported a surprise third-quarter profit, helped by cost cuts and a near doubling of occupancy rates in its North American hotels from the previous quarter as leisure travel rebounded on easing COVID-19 curbs.
While international travel continues to be affected because of border restrictions in many countries, travel within nations has picked up and resulted in a recovery in occupancy rates for hotel chains.
Marriott, which owns the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton brands, said 94% of its hotels around the world had resumed operations and demand continues to improve.
