Marriott brands are seeing steady signs of demand returning despite new figures showing the pandemic continues to dramatically impact the company's revenue, according to President and CEO Arne Sorenson.

The hospitality giant's second quarter results for the year - released on Monday - show a reported operating loss of $154 million, compared to the second quarter reported operating income of $409 million from the corresponding quarter in 2019.

There was also a reported net loss of $234 million for the quarter, while worldwide RevPAR declined 84.4 per cent.

Marriott International second quarter results - At a glance: 

• Reported net loss totalled $234 million, compared to reported net income of $232 million in the year-ago quarter. 
• Worldwide RevPAR decline of 84.4 per cent.
• More than 11,400 rooms added globally during the second quarter, including roughly 2,000 rooms converted from competitor brands and approximately 4,700 rooms in international markets. Net rooms grew 4.1 per cent from a year ago.

While he admitted the business remained "profoundly" affected by the pandemic, Mr Sorenson said the rebound experienced in China during the quarter served to reinforce the view that when people feel safe travelling, demand returns quickly.

“The improvement we have seen in Greater China exemplifies the resilience of travel demand once there is a view that the virus is under control and travel restrictions have eased," he said. 

"Our other regions around the world have also experienced steady improvements in demand and RevPAR over the last couple of months, though the pace varies and tends to be slower in regions that depend more on international travellers.

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Marriott International President and CEO Arne Sorenson. Source: Marriott International

“Over the last few months, we have moved quickly and decisively to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on our business.

"We have implemented measures to help our owners manage through the crisis and strengthened our financial position by increasing our liquidity, extending our average debt maturity, and reducing our cash outlays significantly."

The company added more than 11,400 rooms globally during the second quarter, including roughly 2,000 rooms converted from competitor brands and approximately 4,700 rooms in international markets, signally a net room growth of 4.1 per cent from a year ago.

At quarter-end, Marriott’s worldwide development pipeline totalled nearly 3,000 hotels and approximately 510,000 rooms, including roughly 28,000 rooms approved, but not yet subject to signed contracts.

Over 230,000 rooms in the pipeline were under construction as of the end of the second quarter.

Mr Sorenson said it was "gratifying" to see owners choosing the company 's brands during this time.

"In the first half of the year, we signed 30 per cent more deals in the Asia Pacific region than we did in the same period last year," he said.

Given current trends, we estimate rooms could grow by 2 to 3 per cent, net, for the full year.

Click here to view Marriott's second quarter results for 2020.

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