Intercontinental boosted by Asia and Middle East in third quarter
INTERCONTINENTAL Hotels Group posted a 3.3 per cent rise in third-quarter revenues yesterday boosted by a strong performance in Asia, Middle East and Africa.
The hotelier, which owns the Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and InterContinenal brands, had already warned that its key Americas business suffered a slowdown in trading in September, blaming the earlier timing of certain holidays.
Chief executive Richard Solomons said the 3.3 per cent rise in revenue per available room (revpar) – a key industry measure – was driven by a 5.4 per cent growth across its hotels in Asia, Middle East and Africa.
In the UK revpar grew by 1.5 per cent, hit by the tough comparatives from the Olympic Games in 2012.
“Despite the ongoing challenges in some of our markets, current trading trends give us confidence for the rest of the year,” he said.
The group opened 8,000 rooms (59 hotels) in the period, taking the total number of rooms to 679,000.