IHG reports 'sequentially improved' trading after challenging January
IHG Hotels & Resorts has reported revenue per available room (revpar) for the first quarter of 2022 was up 61% on last year, and 82% of 2019's level.
The hotel giant, which owns brands including Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza, also reported an average daily rate up 27% on 2021 and in line with 2019. Its hotels in the Americas and Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia (EMEAA) saw sequentially improved trading in February and March after a challenging January.
For EMEAA, first quarter revpar was down 33% against 2019 (but up 122% on 2021), including a drop of 15% in the UK. Occupancy was approaching 50%, while rate was down just 4%.
Keith Barr, chief executive of IHG Hotels & Resorts, said: "We've seen very positive trading conditions in the first quarter with travel demand continuing to increase in almost all of our key markets around the world. The high level of demand we have seen for leisure travel continues to drive increased rates and occupancy. We also continue to see a return of business and group travel, further supporting revpar improvements in many of our key urban markets.
"As occupancy levels rise and due to the strength of our brands, our hotels are seeing increased pricing power; in March, our hotels in the US achieved leisure rates up by more than 10% on 2019 levels and rate across the whole of the US business was 4% ahead. Trading in Greater China continues to be impacted by restrictions put in place to control rising Covid cases.
"Our strategic focus on strengthening and expanding our brand portfolio continues to drive growth. We signed 17,000 rooms into our development pipeline in the first quarter, 15% more than in 2021. Our pipeline of 278 thousand rooms increased 2.4%. Of the 120 hotels signed, there was a particularly strong performance in the Americas with a near-doubling of signings from 39 to 73.
"Luxury and lifestyle brands now account for around 20% of all signings, and following the completion of our quality review in 2021 there were 52 signings across the Holiday Inn brand family and 14 for Crowne Plaza, together up 22% on last year. Our net system size is expanding, and we are pleased with the progress towards our ambition of delivering an industry-leading level of net rooms growth."
IHG has around 6,000 open hotels in more than 100 countries, and more than 1,800 in the development pipeline.
Photo: Shutterstock
Continue reading
You need to create an account to read this article. It's free and only requires a few basic details.
Already subscribed? Log In
