While much of the discussion about success in second quarter hotel demand has revolved around the FIFA World Cup, Summit Hotel Properties President and CEO Jonathan Stanner said his company has seen a broader lift both before and after that event.
"The vast majority of our urban markets saw meaningful [revenue per available room] and [earnings] growth in the quarter, and markets outside of World Cup host markets were some of our top performers, including Cleveland; Washington, D.C.; Indianapolis; Chicago; Charlotte and New Orleans," he said on the hotel-focused real estate investment trust's second-quarter earnings call.
Stanner pointed to strength in both business transient and group travel as reasons for broad-based optimism.
"This was much more than just a World Cup-driven event in the quarter," he said. "Our strongest segments were our highest-rated segments. I do think we continue to expect very strong demand and pricing power on the corporate side, both from a group and a transient perspective."
Going forward, both Summit and the U.S. travel industry broadly have the biggest growth opportunity from the return of business travel, which has significantly lagged behind other segments since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
"We've gotten away a lot in the industry from comparing to 2019 levels, but I do think that has been the slowest segment to recover," he said. "You're seeing tremendous momentum there. Some of it is all the growth we're seeing in the technology world. A lot of it's driven by the strength and kind of the AI build-out, and we are definitely benefiting from that to some degree."
Stanner also noted Summit is enjoying at least a modest rebound in government travel, which was down significantly in 2025.
"We were up a little over 8% in the quarter. We do expect that to be kind of another leg of growth for us in the back half of the year," he said.
Reflecting that optimism, the company increased its full-year 2026 outlook across the board. RevPAR growth expectations are now at a range of 1.75% to 3.25%, up 0.75% at the midpoint compared to earlier projections. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for real estate is now expected to come in between $175 million and $182 million, a $3 million increase at the midpoint.
In the company's second quarter earnings release, Summit officials disclosed the sale of two Dallas properties — the 103-room Courtyard by Marriott Dallas Arlington South and the 96-room Residence Inn by Marriott Dallas Arlington South — for a combined $19 million.
During the call, Stanner said Summit's outlook assumes no hotel purchases for the balance of 2026. He said if the company does do any transactions, it will continue to focus on single-asset or small portfolio deals.
Second-quarter performance
During the second quarter, Summit recorded a 5% year-over-year increase in RevPAR to $136.06. Stanner said that increase was primarily driven by rate, with an average daily rate increase in the quarter of 7.1%. He expected rate to continue to drive Summit's hotel performance through the rest of the year.
Hotel EBITDA for the quarter came in up 7.8% For a total of $72.5 million in the quarter. The company posted net income in the quarter of $3.9 million, compared to a loss of $1.6 million in the second quarter of 2025.
As of press time, Summit's stock was trading at $6.72, up 38% year to date. The NYSE Composite was up 11.7% for the same period.