HOLIDAY INN OWNER SEES STRONGER REVENUES IN FIRST QUARTER AS IT OPENS NEW HOTELS

Holiday Inn operator Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) has reported a surge in revenues for the first quarter of 2024, with significant growth in Europe and Asia fuelling the rise.

The hotel giant, which also manages Crowne Plaza among other brands, has been on an expansion spree, launching over 6,200 rooms in 46 new hotels. This marks an 11% increase in room openings compared to the same period last year.

Shareholders were informed that IHG's global revenue per available room (RevPAR) increased by 2.6% in the quarter. Elie Maalouf, the CEO of IHG Hotels & Resorts, commented: "There was an impressive performance in EMEAA (Europe Middle East Africa and Asia) which was up nearly 9%."

He added: "The Americas, having already recovered very strongly, was broadly flat due to some adverse calendar timing, and Greater China grew by 2.5% and will continue to benefit from returning international inbound travel this year. Global occupancy moved up to 62% and average daily rate increased by a further 2% as pricing remained robust, reflecting the complete return of leisure, business, and group travel."

However, North America experienced a slight dip in RevPAR by 0.3%, particularly in the US, which saw a decrease in occupancy levels. Despite observing weaker business travel in North America, IHG mentioned that there has been an improvement in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, the group reported that its EMEAA saw a significant boost, particularly in Japan and Australia, with increases of 16.9% and 10.2% respectively. Additionally, it reported a 6.2% revenue increase in continental Europe and a 2.4% rise in the UK.

2024-05-03T07:59:08Z dg43tfdfdgfd