International visitation to Disney's domestic theme parks is down, but overall attendance is up because of increased promotions and marketing within the U.S., according to Disney CFO Hugh Johnston.
Johnston spoke during the company's fiscal Q1 earnings call. He did not provide details about the decrease in international visitors, except that Disney expects it will continue to be a headwind in the second fiscal quarter.
"We continue to monitor international visitation to our domestic parks and adjust our strategy," executives said in prepared remarks.
Johnston did offer some specifics about the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, which recorded "strong attendance and performance as well as strong pricing performance." Bookings for the full year are up 5%, Johnston said, weighted toward the back half of the year. It's "certainly trending very positively in that regard."
Overall, revenue for the Disney Experiences division was up 6%, to $10.01 billion, the first time quarterly revenue for the division exceeded $10 billion. Operating income was up 6%, to $3.31 billion. Disney Experiences includes the theme parks and hotel, cruise and tour operations.
Disney attributed the increases to higher passenger cruise days on Disney Cruise Line's newest ships, Disney Treasure and Disney Destiny, as well as increased attendance, occupied room nights and guest spending at parks. The quarter also benefitted from comparisons to the same period last year, when Hurricane Milton caused a temporary closure of the parks.
Results also were impacted by higher prices, and that includes a boost from newest cruise ship, Disney Destiny.
Disney reported strong pricing for the new Disney Destiny cruise ship. Photo Credit: Disney Cruise Line
Last go-round for Iger?
Disney CEO Bob Iger, in his second stint in the position, is nearing the end of his latest contract with Disney, which runs through Dec. 31. It has been rumored that he plans to step down before his contract expires.
An analyst, Jessica Reif Ehrlich, managing director at BofA Securities, pointed to some moves Iger made when he first became CEO that had a huge impact on the company, including moving Monday Night Football from ABC to ESPN and acquiring Pixar. She asked if Iger had pinpointed any areas his successor could "jump start" for the long-term growth of the business.
"That's a long time ago, and I'm certainly proud of those," Iger said, noting he was proud of other decisions he had made along the way.
He zeroed in on the period of around three years ago, when he returned to the company after the ouster of CEO Bob Chapek. At that time, he said, "a tremendous amount needed fixing." But leading a successful company requires more than just fixing, according to Iger: it also requires preparing for the future and "taking steps to create opportunities for growth."
"The good news is that the company is in much better shape today than it was three years ago," he said. He especially pointed to the expansion of the Experiences division both on land and at sea.