McDonald's landed at 222 on the Forbes Global 2000 this year, thanks in large part to its drive-thru business. ith increasing vaccination rates and an eagerness among consumers to return to normalcy, many of the biggest names in the hotel, restaurant and leisure sectors have begun to rebound inFast-food chains have weathered the pandemic better than the rest of the restaurant sector, largely thanks to drive-thru service and digital ordering.
Similarly, Starbucks also plans to accelerate growth with 90% of new locations featuring drive-thru lanes, interim CEO Howard Schultz said on a recent earnings call. Drive-thru and mobile ordering accounted for 70% of US sales in the last quarter and delivery was up 30%. Hotels and resorts were pummeled in the earliest days of the pandemic, but the sector seems to be back on a path to a full recovery. In March, U.S. hotel gross operating profit per available room reached its highest level since November 2019, according to P&L data from STR. The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index increased 3.1% in the first four months of 2022.
The casino sector is also bouncing back, having generated more revenue in 2021 than any other year in the industry’s history, according to the American Gaming Association. Gross revenue hit a record-breaking $53 billion, besting the previous record of $44 billion, set in 2019, by more than 20%. MGM Resorts catapulted over 500 spots to land at no. 743 and Caesars Entertainment rose 200 spots to no. 1172.