Travel slump hits Hilton profits

The Hilton Group has blamed a drop in international travel and an uncertain global economy for a 22.6% drop in hotel profits.

In the six months to 30 June profits in the group's hotels division fell to £97.8m, although its betting and gaming arm saw a rise of almost 20%.

Overall, group turnover increased to £2.57b, from £1.91b for the same period last year.

Group chief executive David Michels said that although the hotels division had faced a difficult six months, the decrease in revpar of 5.4% and dip in occupancy of 2.8 percentage points was less of a drop than had been seen in previous downturns.

"I believe the group as a whole has performed relatively well, despite widely divergent performances from our two divisions, operating as they have in totally different environments," said Michels.

In the last six months, Hilton has opened ten new hotels, including Cologne (Germany), Chogging (China), Marita New Tokyo International Airport (Japan), and Seoul (South Korea).

It expects to open a further 25 in destinations including Sao Paulo (Brazil), Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and Valencia (Spain).