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Date
Friday, May 1, 2026 at 10 a.m. ET
Call participants
- Executive Chairman — Colin V. Reed
- President & Chief Executive Officer — Mark Fioravanti
- Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer — Patrick S. Chaffin
- President, Opry Entertainment Group — Patrick Q. Moore
- Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer — Jennifer L. Hutcheson
Takeaways
- Same-Store ADR -- Increased just over 5% year over year, more than offsetting lower group occupancy, according to direct management commentary.
- Banquet and AV Revenue per Group Room Night -- Grew more than 6% year over year, with gains at nearly every property.
- Gaylord Opryland & Gaylord Rockies -- Each property posted record first-quarter revenue; Gaylord Opryland also achieved record Adjusted EBITDAre for the period.
- Gaylord Palms -- Reported record revenue and Adjusted EBITDAre for any quarter in its history.
- JW Marriott Desert Ridge -- Delivered an 8% increase in total ADR and 25% growth in banquet and AV revenue compared to last year, with group mix up nearly 200 basis points and group demand up more than 9%.
- Gross Group Room Nights Booked -- Increased nearly 27% year over year, representing the strongest first-quarter production since 2018, with about two-thirds from corporate bookings.
- Same-Store Group Rooms Revenue on the Books -- Accelerated sequentially from 6.5% growth as of December 31 to 7.6% as of March 31, with 2027 up over 3% and 2028 down 1%; ADR growth for both years pacing up mid-single digits.
- Corporate Mix Shift -- Corporate group mix increased about three points for 2026 and 2027 and about six points for 2028, according to management discussion of the new group strategy.
- Ole Red Las Vegas -- Achieved the highest monthly revenue and Adjusted EBITDAre in its operating history in March.
- Unrestricted Cash on Hand -- Ended the quarter with $424 million, with an additional $27 million in restricted cash for FF&E and maintenance.
- Total Credit Availability -- Both corporate and OEG revolving credit facilities were undrawn, resulting in approximately $1.35 billion of availability.
- Net Leverage Ratio -- Pro forma net leverage at quarter end was 4.3x, calculated using total consolidated net debt to Adjusted EBITDAre, including a full-year contribution from JW Marriott Desert Ridge.
- Senior Unsecured Notes Refinancing -- Issued $700 million due 2034 to refinance prior 2027 notes, which were redeemed, effectively eliminating near-term refinancing risk through 2028.
- Full-Year Capital Expenditure Guidance -- Total expected spending for the year remains $350 million to $450 million, with all major projects on schedule and budget.
- Guidance Update -- Midpoints of full-year guidance ranges were raised due to first-quarter hospitality outperformance; management noted, “our outlook for the rest of the year is essentially unchanged from our prior expectations.”
- Same-Store Hospitality Outlook -- Third quarter is projected to show the strongest revenue and margin growth, followed by the second quarter, with RevPAR growth expected to accelerate as the year progresses.
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Risks
- Colin V. Reed referenced, “there are some storm clouds on the horizon,” specifically mentioning potential interest rate hikes related to geopolitical developments in Iran and oil prices that “could affect unemployment and could affect inflation.”
- Full-year guidance at the low end assumes “some hesitation in near-term meeting planner decision-making, a potential pullback in 2026 meeting budgets, and softer leisure demand, potentially in response to higher gas prices.”
- Management cited the impact of winter storm Fern for elevated attrition and cancellations in January, although these metrics normalized in February and March.
Summary
Ryman Hospitality Properties (RHP +3.64%) reported higher revenue and margin expansion across key convention center resort assets, with strategic focus on premium corporate group demand driving both rate growth and strengthened forward bookings. The company completed a significant $700 million refinancing of senior unsecured notes, extending maturity through 2034 and removing near-term debt risk. New meeting space projects, room renovations, and a sports bar launch were delivered on time and within budget, supporting further growth in outside-the-room spending and profitability. Management confirmed accelerated bookings momentum into future years, improved mix toward high-yielding corporate customers, and robust liquidity with no changes to capital spending plans. Entertainment segment performance aligned with management expectations, while select venues, notably Ole Red Las Vegas, set new revenue and EBITDAre milestones driven by heightened demand.
- Patrick Q. Moore confirmed ongoing organizational expansion in Entertainment, noting “perhaps the most robust pipeline of confirmed growth that we have ever had,” alongside strategic hires and technology upgrades.
- Management cited macroeconomic uncertainty, referencing possible future rate hikes as relayed by “two of the four dissenting Fed governors this morning,” while reiterating measured confidence in their business outlook.
- Plans for property expansion at Gaylord Rockies, JW Hill Country, and Gaylord Texan remain active, with timing subject to further local developments and internal review.
- CFO Jennifer L. Hutcheson stated, “There is no particular caution embedded in our full-year guidance,” as leading indicators for group demand, attrition, and outside-the-room spending remain positive through April.
- Company strategy for 2027 and 2028 involves reserving inventory for premium corporate bookings in nearer-term booking windows, a change that creates challenging year-over-year comps but is expected to enhance overall performance.
Industry glossary
- Adjusted EBITDAre: A non-GAAP earnings metric used by REITs that adjusts EBITDA for real estate-specific gains, impairment, and other non-recurring items, reflecting recurring operating performance.
- SMERF: An industry acronym for social, military, educational, religious, and fraternal groups, representing segments of group bookings outside of corporate and association categories.
- FF&E: Stands for furniture, fixtures, and equipment; refers to the tangible assets used in the operation of hotels and resorts.
- RevPAR: Revenue per available room; a standard industry metric for measuring hotel performance, calculated by multiplying the average daily room rate by the occupancy rate.
Full Conference Call Transcript
Colin V. Reed: Thanks, Jen. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. We delivered a strong start to the year with results that exceeded our expectations, despite the complex geopolitical backdrop. Our first quarter performance reinforces what we have long believed about this company. The quality of our assets, the durability of our business model, and the way we allocate capital delivers superior outcomes for our customers and attractive, sustainable returns for our shareholders. In our same-store hospitality business, we grew revenue and market share and expanded margin on slightly fewer room nights—a clear demonstration of pricing discipline, mix management toward higher-value customers, and enhanced monetization of on-site demand.
Results were particularly strong for the assets that have recently benefited from capital investments. Gaylord Opryland delivered record first quarter revenue and Adjusted EBITDAre; Gaylord Rockies delivered record first quarter revenue; and Gaylord Palms delivered record revenue and Adjusted EBITDAre of any quarter in its history. The JW Marriott Desert Ridge also delivered a strong first quarter which, given the seasonality of that market, is especially meaningful for full-year profitability. Though we have owned this hotel for less than a year, the benefits of our ownership are already evident. A group-focused yield strategy resulted in meaningfully higher group volumes, which supported strong outside-the-room spending and margin outcomes.
Together, this property and the JW Hill Country, which is now undergoing the capital investment that we identified at acquisition, create a tangible runway for growth over the medium term, and I could not be more excited about their role in our future. On the entertainment side, demand for live remains incredibly healthy. Our Ole Red brand continues to resonate in a meaningful way, particularly in markets like Nashville and Las Vegas, and soon, we believe, Indianapolis. Indianapolis has long been on our radar as a vibrant convention and leisure market with strong economic and demographic drivers, and a deep base of country music fans.
To that end, we were excited to announce just this week a development partnership with the organization behind the NBA Pacers and the WNBA Fever. This Ole Red development will contribute to the broader revitalization of the downtown corridor between the convention center and the Pacers Arena. This announcement marks our third development update this year, and our team remains active in evaluating both organic and inorganic growth opportunities toward expanding our platform and enhancing the value proposition for artists and consumers alike. Looking ahead, the future looks very bright for both of our businesses.
Over the last two years, we have meaningfully improved the growth profile and pipeline for each while continuing to build satisfaction and loyalty through consistent execution and focused capital investment. We remain on track to achieve the 2027 financial targets we set in early 2024, and we look forward to updating you on our continued progress. Now before I hand over to Mark, let me go off script and say just a couple of things about our team. Our asset management team led by Patrick Chaffin, I believe, is the best in the industry, and our team at OEG led by Patrick Q. Moore is firing on all cylinders.
Mark, Jen, and Scott and their teams are showing tremendous leadership, and our company could not be in better hands. So, Mark, what have you got to tell us?
Mark Fioravanti: Thanks, Colin, and good morning, everyone. I will provide more color on our operating performance and business momentum before discussing our updated outlook. From an expectation standpoint, we entered the quarter assuming relatively flattish revenue and some margin pressure in our same-store hospitality business, along with softer profitability trends in Entertainment due in part to mix-driven seasonality and a challenging year-over-year comparison. Entertainment performance finished in line with our expectations, while the hospitality business delivered meaningful outperformance. Same-store ADR increased just over 5% year over year, more than offsetting lower group occupancy. As you will recall, the timing of Easter last year resulted in unusually strong group demand in the first quarter, creating a challenging year-over-year comp.
High-quality corporate group demand proved far more resilient than lower-contribution segments, resulting in higher ADR and higher levels of outside-the-room spending compared to both our expectations and last year. Banquet and AV revenue contribution per group room night increased more than 6% year over year with gains at nearly every property in the portfolio. Our leisure business, while a smaller contributor to first quarter results, also surprised to the upside. Both demand and rate increased compared to last year, supported by seasonal spring break travel with particular strength at the JW Marriott Hill Country and Gaylord Rockies. Higher flow-through from growth in room rate and catering business together with ongoing efficiency initiatives drove Adjusted EBITDAre margin expansion in the quarter.
Looking forward, the leading indicators of group demand remain resilient. The elevated attrition and cancellation activity we experienced last year has largely normalized. Excluding January, which was impacted by winter storm Fern, attrition improved year over year and cancellations for the year were essentially flat. On the heels of record monthly production in December, group bookings activity continued at very strong levels in the first quarter. Gross group room nights booked in the first quarter for all periods increased nearly 27% year over year, representing the strongest first quarter production since 2018. Reflecting our continued focus on premium corporate groups, corporate bookings comprised approximately two-thirds of production.
Association bookings were also strong, surpassing pre-COVID first quarter levels for the first time, setting aside pandemic-related rebooking activity. As a result, growth in same-store group rooms revenue on the books for all future periods compared to the same time last year accelerated sequentially from 6.5% as of December 31 to 7.6% as of March 31. Across the portfolio, and most notably at Gaylord Opryland, we have invested in food and beverage offerings and carpeted meeting space to attract and serve the premium corporate group segment.
In support of our capital deployment strategy and the increasing corporate demand for our hotels, we have refined our inventory management approach to make more sellable inventory available through the entire 24-month corporate booking window. Enhancing the corporate mix of our hotels drives higher room rates, outside-the-room spending, and profitability. However, these changes in our inventory management approach create challenging year-over-year comparisons as we move into the prime corporate booking window for 2027 and 2028. For 2027, same-store group rooms revenue on the books is up over 3% compared to the same time last year and down 1% for 2028.
Importantly, ADR growth for both periods is pacing up mid-single digits, and corporate meeting planner feedback and lead volumes are strong. Given this interest, we are confident that we are well positioned to achieve the booking goals required to enter 2027 and 2028 with our targeted 50 points of occupancy on the books and strong rate growth. Now I will turn to JW Marriott Desert Ridge, which also delivered a terrific first quarter. Prior to our ownership, the property prioritized higher-rated leisure demand during the peak first quarter period. Under our group-first sales and revenue management strategy, group mix increased by nearly 200 basis points and group demand grew more than 9% while maintaining ADR discipline.
In fact, total ADR for the property increased nearly 8% year over year with growth across group and leisure segments, and banquet and AV revenue was up 25%. We expect these trends to build over the next several years as the property grows its share of the meetings market under our group strategy. Supporting this strategy, we completed the 5 thousand-square-foot meeting space conversion in April, which we believe will further enhance the hotel’s ability to attract high-quality corporate groups. Turning to Entertainment, first quarter results declined year over year due to a challenging comparison, seasonality associated with our new business line, and the impact of winter storm Fern.
Overall, business performance was in line with our expectations, and we continue to be encouraged by the underlying trends. Both Ole Red and Category 10 exceeded our expectations, with particular strength in Nashville and Las Vegas. In the back half of the quarter, March represented a new high watermark for Ole Red Las Vegas, with the venue generating the highest monthly revenue and Adjusted EBITDAre in its operating history. Finally, I want to spend a few minutes on our outlook. As we noted in the press release, we are raising the midpoints of our guidance ranges to reflect the first quarter hospitality outperformance.
Our outlook for the rest of the year is essentially unchanged from our prior expectations, reflecting measured confidence in our business. We continue to feel good about the areas of the business within our control—sales production, pricing discipline, margin initiatives, and execution of the capital projects we have underway. So far, meeting planner sentiment and the leisure guest’s willingness to visit our properties has remained resilient. What gets us to the high end of the range is continued strong near-term group business trends, including normalized levels of attrition and cancellations, healthy in-the-year-for-the-year production, and strong on-property spending, as well as continued momentum in leisure.
The low end of the range assumes some hesitation in near-term meeting planner decision-making, a potential pullback in 2026 meeting budgets, and softer leisure demand, potentially in response to higher gas prices. At the midpoint for the rest of the year, we continue to assume mid-single-digit growth in group rooms revenue and flattish year-over-year leisure performance. Let me make a few comments on seasonality. For the same-store hospitality business, we continue to expect third quarter to show the strongest revenue and margin growth of the year, reflecting strong corporate group mix on the books and easier year-over-year comparisons, followed by the second quarter.
We expect same-store RevPAR growth to accelerate as the year progresses, especially as the Gaylord Texan room renovation is completed in August. For JW Marriott Desert Ridge, we expect the second quarter to contribute slightly more than 25.5% of full-year Adjusted EBITDAre. And for the Entertainment business, we continue to expect the second and fourth quarters to be the largest contributors to full-year Adjusted EBITDAre. Looking beyond 2026, we remain confident in the 2027 Adjusted EBITDAre targets we outlined at our last Investor Day. Our forward book of business, the addition of the JW Marriott Desert Ridge, and the capital investments underway across the portfolio position us well to deliver those objectives.
With that, I will turn it over to Jennifer to walk you through the balance sheet and capital allocation.
Jennifer L. Hutcheson: Thanks, Mark. We ended the first quarter with $424 million of unrestricted cash on hand. In addition, we held $27 million of restricted cash available for FF&E and other maintenance projects. Both our corporate and OEG revolving credit facilities were undrawn, resulting in total availability of approximately $1.35 billion. At the end of the quarter, our pro forma net leverage ratio based on total consolidated net debt to Adjusted EBITDAre, assuming a full-year contribution of Adjusted EBITDAre from JW Marriott Desert Ridge, was 4.3 times. In March, we completed an opportunistic refinancing, issuing $700 million of senior unsecured notes due 2034 and, together with cash on hand, redeeming in full the prior 2027 notes.
The transaction was well received and priced through our expectations, extending our weighted average maturity and eliminating near-term refinancing risk through 2028. With respect to capital expenditures, our full-year outlook is unchanged and we continue to expect total capital spending for the year in the range of $350 million to $450 million. In April, we completed the Foundry Fieldhouse Sports Bar development at Gaylord Opryland, and as Mark mentioned, the meeting space conversion at JW Marriott Desert Ridge. Also in April, we kicked off the JW Marriott Hill Country rooms renovation, which is expected to run through 2027. The Gaylord Opryland meeting space expansion, the Gaylord Texan rooms renovation, and Category 10 Las Vegas development remain underway.
All major projects remain on time and on budget. Finally, regarding our dividend, it remains our intention to distribute [inaudible] of our taxable income through dividends over time. We will now open the call for questions.
Operator: Thank you. If you would like to ask a question, press 1 on your keypad. To leave the queue at any time, press 2. In the interest of time, we do ask that you please limit yourself to one question. Our first question today comes from Patrick Scholes with Truist. Your line is now open.
Patrick Scholes: Hi. Good morning. Question for you. On your Dallas property and the World Cup—you know, it looks like it is about a half an hour away. Are you expecting to get much business from the World Cup on that? And if so, how has it been trending? There is a lot of media about FIFA cancellations. Did you have any of those FIFA bookings? Any color in that regard? Thank you.
Mark Fioravanti: Good morning. The World Cup is going to be marginally impactful to our Dallas property. We already had a substantial level of group room nights on the books, and we are in a really strong position, but it will help us on transient rate, so we will see a little bit of lift there. Overall, World Cup, I think, has been a mixed bag in certain markets, but Dallas has seen a positive impact, and we should see some on ADR as well.
Colin V. Reed: The fan base in Dallas is going to be pretty aggressive with the England team playing in Dallas.
Operator: Our next question comes from Daniel Brian Politzer with JPMorgan. Your line is now open.
Jennifer L. Hutcheson: There is no particular caution embedded in our full-year guidance. Our outlook for the remainder of the year, Dan, is unchanged from what we had at the beginning of the year. We are raising our full-year guidance in recognition of the strong trends we had in the first quarter, and as we noted throughout the prepared remarks, all of the leading indicators are continuing to remain very resilient. You saw attrition, for example, improve year over year when you look at the February and March trends. You see bookings continue to trend upwards on the group side meaningfully, and outside-the-room spending is good. Leisure performance from spring break was exceeding our expectations.
So there are a lot of good reasons, and I think our approach to full-year guidance at this point is measured confidence.
Colin V. Reed: Having said all of that, though, I am sure, Dan, you probably read that two of the four dissenting Fed governors this morning put out statements saying that we live in extremely volatile times, that there could be rate hikes going into the future simply because what is going on in Iran with oil prices could affect unemployment and could affect inflation. And so, here we sit. We have a wonderful business on our hands firing on all cylinders, but there are some storm clouds on the horizon, and we have to be cognizant of that. So there is a degree of caution in this, but as Jen said, our businesses are performing admirably.
Operator: Our next question comes from Smedes Rose with Citi. Your line is now open.
Smedes Rose: Hi, thank you. Mark, you sort of alluded to this in your opening remarks, but I did want to ask a little bit about the cancellation and attrition rates you saw during the quarter. It did look elevated at least to what you have reported over the past several quarters. Are you saying it was really all due to that terrible storm in January? Could you unpack that a little bit?
Mark Fioravanti: If you look at the first quarter by month and you back out what occurred in January during the winter storm Fern, attrition was actually lower for the remaining two months year over year. And cancellations, as we said in the script, were essentially flat—I think it was about a 200 room-night difference. The trends we are seeing thus far in April would continue to support that.
Operator: Our next question comes from Aryeh Klein with BMO Capital Markets. Your line is now open.
Aryeh Klein: Thanks, and good morning. On the future group pace in 2027 and 2028, you mentioned some of the inventory management changes that are maybe having an impact on comps. Hoping you could just provide a little bit more color on how we should expect things to trend from here?
Mark Fioravanti: What you are seeing in those 2027–2028 numbers is really a manifestation of the strategy we have implemented over the last couple of years as it relates to refining our group strategy to maximize hotel performance. We are making inventory available for premium corporate groups. We undertook primary research to understand customer needs for those premium corporate groups, we are deploying capital into the hotels to provide the food and beverage and meeting space, and we are modifying pricing and inventory management. We are making sure we have the right rate, dates, and space available when that premium business is ready to transact, which is typically a shorter window—about two to two and a half years—versus association and SMERF.
As we have held more inventory available, that is what you see reflected in those year-over-year growth numbers. We have also worked with Marriott to modify our sales incentives to ensure the sales teams are focused on the right segments and have appropriate short- and long-term goals to hit our crossover targets for future years. In terms of getting to 50 points on the books and what gives us confidence, we have the best physical product we have ever had to serve the corporate customer, and it is getting better each year. Current corporate demand trends are very positive. Corporate leads are the highest they have ever been—about 27% above where we were in 2019.
Pattern availability is good; we have been holding inventory. The shift is already happening: for the rest of 2026, we are up about three points in corporate mix; for 2027, up about three points; and for 2028, up about six points. We feel like we are in really good shape and have the pieces in place to execute this strategy.
Operator: Our next question comes from Richard Hightower with Barclays. Your line is now open.
Richard Hightower: Hi, good morning. Maybe just to follow up on the corporate booking question. Obviously, trends have been very strong. Is that surprising at all in the context of some macro headwinds—choppy jobs market, layoffs in different pockets of the economy—or is it a fundamentally different composition of the customer base that would be staying in your properties?
Colin V. Reed: What you are saying about the jobs market raises questions about how much is being affected by the tremendous amount of capital pouring into artificial intelligence. But when you look at the underlying strength of corporate America today—where the markets are trading, with the S&P at all-time highs—the reason is corporate profits are in really good shape. You look at what is going on in the banking industry and our industry—it is in really good shape.
The strategy that Mark just talked about, when Patrick came and sat down with Mark and me some months ago and talked about becoming a little bit more aggressive on cutting these blocks in 2028, made a lot of sense to us simply because of the underlying strength we are seeing in lead volume. Having more inventory to book into in these periods ahead of us at higher-rated business makes a ton of sense. So, putting aside the unfortunate noise of what is going on in the Middle East, our economy is in pretty good shape, and we are betting that for the rest of this year and next year, it is going to remain that way.
Patrick Chaffin: If you look at on-property actualization of groups, we saw some hesitation back in the third quarter and even into October and November. As we entered December, we started to see that hesitation to spend abate, and that has continued through the first quarter. As we went into the first quarter, we were hesitant, but meeting planners have shown up in a major way and spent very well on property. That seems to be continuing, so we are growing in our confidence that the groups traveling to our hotels are comfortable proceeding with their programs at the levels they originally anticipated.
Operator: Our next question comes from Cooper R. Clark with Wells Fargo. Your line is now open.
Cooper R. Clark: Thanks for taking the question. On OEG, it seems like every quarter now you are talking about a new development or operating contract for the business. How are you thinking about EBITDA growth of that business over the next couple of years, and when will you consider making some of the additions to management structure that you discussed as being prerequisites for a potential spin?
Patrick Q. Moore: In terms of growth, we have perhaps the most robust pipeline of confirmed growth that we have ever had as a business. We have continued to make additions from an organizational standpoint in terms of talent and capabilities, including a new COO and a CMO in the last 18 months. We have added great expertise in festivals and amphitheaters, and for the artist partnerships, we have added strength and capabilities there as well. We will continue to look at expansion in capacity and capability from an organizational standpoint. We are also working on technology and adding to our tech stack overall for the Entertainment business.
We have put dedicated design and construction folks within the business to deal with this volume of growth. We are really excited about what the future holds over the next two or three years.
Colin V. Reed: Good stuff. It is exciting.
Operator: Our next question comes from David Katz with Jefferies. Your line is now open.
David Katz: Thanks. I wanted to talk about Marriott Desert Ridge. I noticed in the guide you are pushing those numbers slightly higher for this year. Does that change your long-term underwriting view on it? And there has been some discussion about capital going in there—any update and perspective would help.
Jennifer L. Hutcheson: We are very pleased with the outperformance from Desert Ridge in the first quarter. We outlined our group-forward strategy relative to the property’s prior, more leisure-focused strategy. Spring break there outperformed our expectations, and we are happy to be able to flow that through. Our expectations for the remainder of the year for Desert Ridge, compared to what we thought when we set our initial guidance, are essentially unchanged, with a little bit of flow-through from the strong first quarter. That first quarter is over 40% of the annual contribution for that property’s annual profitability. We acquired this property three quarters ago.
We had talked about being able to buy down that multiple—what our expectations at that point were for our first full year of ownership—and we are right on track with those financial expectations. In terms of the longer-term outlook, we as a management team continue to be very confident about that.
Patrick Chaffin: We are in our first year of owning and operating this hotel, and we are developing and refining what we want to do from a capital perspective. We do not see a massive need for capital. This hotel was in great shape, and it is about continuing to tweak and meet the needs of the meeting planner. We have converted some space into usable meeting space, and that has been received very well already. We will continue to tweak and refine what we are going to do there, but it is not going to be a massive strain on our capital needs.
Operator: Our next question comes from Duane Thomas Pfennigwerth with Evercore ISI. Your line is now open.
Duane Thomas Pfennigwerth: Thank you. Just wanted to come back to the strong bookings growth for the first quarter. How much of that would you say was higher conversion of existing leads—effectively planners getting off the sidelines—versus easy comps last year? And then could you speak to the underlying drivers of outperformance in Nashville? Thank you.
Patrick Chaffin: A couple comments. Our first quarter is coming off an extremely strong December—the strongest December we have ever seen in terms of production. The fact that we are seeing that continue through the first quarter and into April is a strong indicator that group is on an upward trajectory. We are heavily focused on acquisition business; it is probably about 30% of what we book into the hotels in any given quarter. So we are bringing in a lot of new business as well as strong multiyear rotational business. I would not characterize it as an easy comp—really continued growth, both on the acquisition front as well as strengthening group dynamics.
Nashville outperformance reflected strong local demand across our venues and continued momentum at Ole Red and Category 10.
Operator: Our next question comes from Jay Kornreich with Cantor Fitzgerald. Your line is now open.
Jay Kornreich: Thanks very much. You have a clear focus on improving the portfolio with many ongoing CapEx opportunities. What about incremental portfolio CapEx opportunities you can do? You have previously discussed adding rooms at Gaylord Rockies and the JW Hill Country as well. Any update on timing for those or similar projects?
Patrick Chaffin: You hit it on the head. We are definitely interested in expanding Gaylord Rockies, and we are working through some opportunities at the local level there before we can proceed, but we are excited to add to that property at some point in the near future. Hill Country is something we are studying and working to refine, and there is definitely an expansion opportunity there. We are also continuing to look at Gaylord Texan as a potential expansion opportunity. Beyond that, we have multiple opportunities to make marginal tweaks—whether it is repositioning food and beverage or adding a little bit of space here and there. We have a target-rich environment for additional expansion and investment opportunities across the portfolio.
Operator: Our next question comes from Stephen Grambling with Morgan Stanley. Your line is now open.
Stephen Grambling: Thanks. You talked to confidence in hitting the 2027 targets you laid out in 2024. As we are at about the midpoint and look back at some of the drivers of that outlook, what are some of the biggest surprises—positive or negative—to consider in each segment? Any reason to believe those growth rates have evolved relative to when you outlined them?
Mark Fioravanti: Relative to the assumptions we made in 2024, the biggest difference between our performance and what we planned is the acquisition of Desert Ridge and the expansion of Rockies. While we are still working through that expansion and are getting very close to actualizing it, we had assumed it would be completed prior to 2027 and it was in that 2027 number. As we look at how our same-store business has performed, it has performed admirably relative to our expectations, particularly as the corporate customer has responded to the activities and capital that we have deployed.
You see the rate growth we have actualized as well as the rate growth on the books and the level of bookings we are achieving—it really all flows back to that focus on the corporate customer and has surprised us a bit to the upside.
Colin V. Reed: Entertainment is tracking pretty much as we guided.
Mark Fioravanti: In fact, Entertainment has more growth in the pipeline than I think we initially laid out.
Operator: Our next question comes from Michael Herring with Green Street. Your line is now open.
Michael Herring: Good morning. With the change in your group booking strategy, can you quantify the target mix shift in terms of corporate group relative to association and SMERF versus historic levels? And how are you thinking about the risk profile of your forward bookings from targeting more corporate groups, given the shorter booking windows?
Mark Fioravanti: We are talking about a few points of occupancy—refining and turning the dial where we might settle three to five points higher in corporate versus association and SMERF. It is really about raising the level of customer across all segments. All groups are not created equal, and we are moving up the rate scale and driving premium customers across corporate, association, and SMERF. We do not think this creates significant incremental volatility in our performance. These are contracted room nights, and if you look back to the 2009 recession, where we had a high level of cancellations, we also had a high level of collection fees, which helps mitigate lost profitability.
We feel very comfortable making this shift and driving yield without materially changing the volatility of our earnings or the risk.
Patrick Chaffin: To accentuate that point, collection of cancellation fees on corporate is usually easier than association and SMERF because it does not create a financial risk for the overall organization. Corporate pays quickly and with very little negotiation.
Colin V. Reed: Do we have any more folks in the queue, or is that it?
Operator: We have no additional questions at this time.
Colin V. Reed: We thank everyone for their participation this morning, and upward and onward. Thank you very much. And, Angela, thank you.
Operator: Thank you. This brings us to the end of today’s meeting. We appreciate your time and participation. You may now disconnect.
