Commenting on first-quarter 2021 earnings, Accor executives said global revenue per available room fell by 64.3% compared to 2019 figures and revenue for the same period fell 57% to 361 million euros ($434 million).

Jean-Jacques Morin, Accor’s CFO and deputy CEO, said for every percentage point deduction in RevPAR, the company loses roughly 18 million euros ($21.6 million) in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

Accor has restructured its various reporting regions, splitting Europe into North Europe, including the United Kingdom and Germany, and South Europe, including France. Accor executives said Europe has broadly seen the brunt of RevPAR declines due to continuing government lockdowns, which remained widespread even in the first quarter of 2021.

South Europe RevPAR in the same period dropped 63.2% compared to 2019, while North Europe dropped 81.9%. In the Americas, RevPAR dropped 72.8%, while in the Asia-Pacific the decline was 54.8%, indicative of demand coming back in such large markets as China.

Some Northern European markets saw RevPAR in the quarter fall to what is expected to be the bottom. London saw RevPAR nosedive 91.1% in that same 2021-to-2019 comparison, while Germany and Spain reported RevPAR declined by 87.1% and 80.8%, respectively. There is some optimism in the U.K., though, as the country's full lockdown is due to end on May 17.

In Accor's home market of France, RevPAR fell 60.9% compared with the first quarter 2020, which Morin said reflected the absence of a lockdown in France during that particular period.

In a short statement accompanying the results, CEO Sébastien Bazin said, “There were no surprises in our first-quarter performance. Global business trends are improving slightly, and the ramp-up of the vaccine rollouts bodes well for a particularly strong rebound. As it did in 2020, the group continues to keep a close eye on protecting its cash and cutting costs.”

What executives described as “ample liquidity” and increased confidence from the rollout of the vaccination program buoys hopes for the future.

Morin said monthly cash burn was approximately 40 million euros ($48.1 million) for the quarter, and liquidity stood at 3.6 billion euros ($4.33 billion). Now the job is to “manage [liquidity] and preserve it properly.”

At the same time, Accor executives said they've invested significantly into supporting their employees, spending roughly a third of the cash reserves of its employee financial support initiative Heartists. Morin said that has benefited some 70,000 people in countries that lacked the social safety nets present in countries like France and the U.K.

As with many other of the world’s largest brand operators, Accor has pushed on with openings, signings and pipeline, increasing its network by 1.4% over the last 12 months. If everything in the pipeline opens, Accor's new portfolio will comprise 5,163 hotels and 757,000 rooms.

“Churn remains very much under control,” Morin said.

Morin told analysts the company’s latest results are in line with expectations given the continued fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Company executives are pinning their hopes on a strong summer in which international flights allow pent-up demand to flourish.

China was the main growth market in new hotels for Accor, as it has been for the previous two years. An additional boost is expected from the Middle East, where the Muslim hajj to Mecca is expected to allow immunized pilgrims, and the delayed Dubai Expo 2020 is scheduled to start in October.

Looking across the world, Morin praised the U.S. for what he called an extremely efficient vaccination program.

“In fact, they’re smashing it. In the last four weeks we’ve seen a 40% improvement in booking in comparison with the previous four weeks,” he said of trading in the US.

“Life continues to be interesting, but what we do is what we can control. … 90% of our ‘reset plan’ is in place. [The second quarter] should not be a miracle, but from the month of June and into the summer, you should see all the effects [start from] what we are talking about,” Morin said.

He added much of Accor’s luxury portfolio remains closed, and even where it is open, such as in Singapore, it is catering to different demand, such as quarantine guests.

Morin said rate integrity will be vital for a healthy recovery.

“We would like as much as possible that no one goes into a price war, as no one wins from it,” he added.

Morin said that Accor has now completed all of its dealing with AccorInvest, its ownership division split off from the firm several years ago.

“There is nothing more to do as of this March,” Morin said of the former division.