With Omicron cases dropping, the demand for travel, leisure, and entertainment is rising. A story from the Wall Street Journal notes that companies such as Marriott International, Wynn Resorts Ltd., Walt Disney Co., and MGM Resorts International are experiencing boosts in profits now that many Americans are eager to go out and spend money on hotels, resorts, and theme parks.
“Despite the impact of omicron, in December, gross nights booked were up 40% and the cancellation rate was lower than a year ago,” said David Stephenson, CFO of Airbnb Inc. during the company’s earnings call on Tuesday. “People are ready to travel this summer.”
The Airbnb co-founder and CEO added during that call that the company was “really optimistic about cross-border travel rebounding and urban travel rebounding.”
Meanwhile, Wynn Resorts CEO Craig Billings said during the company’s Tuesday earnings call that “premium customers, who after being cooped up for 2020 and the first part of 2021, are traveling and spending again with a vengeance.”
Marriott CEO Anthony Capuano also said during the company’s conference call that the hotel chain is seeing greater demand for its high-end properties despite the surge in the Omicron variant. Marriott’s quarterly revenue more than doubled to $4.45 billion from a year earlier.
Disney’s theme parks business also surged this past quarter, with revenue from both domestic and international parks more than doubling year-over-year. Disney CEO Bob Chapek said during the company’s earnings call: “We’ve got really strong domestic demand.”
And after the Omicron variant negatively impacted the attendance for conferences held at MGM Resorts in January, forward hotel bookings are back above pre-pandemic levels, with the company expecting more domestic visitors for the year ahead.
This rise in leisure and entertainment spending bodes well for the Invesco Dynamic Leisure and Entertainment ETF (PEJ). PEJ is based on the Dynamic Leisure & Entertainment Intellidex℠ Index. The fund will normally invest at least 90% of its total assets in common stocks that comprise the index.
The index is designed to provide capital appreciation by thoroughly evaluating companies based on a variety of investment merit criteria, including price momentum, earnings momentum, quality, management action, and value. The index is comprised of common stocks of 30 U.S. leisure and entertainment companies.
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