Holiday Inn owner says travel demand resilient as half-year sales jump
Holiday Inn owner InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has revealed its sales jumped as it said there have been “no signs” of people cutting back on leisure trips.
The global group, which owns a raft of hotel brands including Crowne Plaza and Regent, said it is positive that sales will remain strong “irrespective” of shorter-term economic pressures.
It revealed its reported revenues hit one billion US dollars (£780 million) in the half year to the end of June, up 23% from 840 million dollars (£658 million) the prior year.
Its operating profit also surged by 27% to 479 million dollars (£375 million) over the period.
In the Americas and EMEAA regions, leisure demand has remained buoyant and business and group travel continued to strengthen, while in Greater China, demand has rebounded rapidly
Elie Maalouf, IHG's chief executive
Furthermore, the group’s global revenue per available room (RevPAR), an important measure for the hotel industry, swelled by 24% year-on-year and surpassed pre-Covid levels.
The improved result was driven by a rapid rebound in sales in China following the significant easing of Covid-19 restrictions at the start of this year, and buoyant demand for leisure travel in the rest of the world.
In the UK, there was a particularly strong rebound in travel in London, IHG said.
“There have been no broad signs of consumer price resistance or cooling of leisure demand to date,” the group said, indicating that it has not been impacted by the wider cost-of-living squeeze.
Prices easing in some US resorts were offset by growing demand for international trips, IHG said.
But business and group travel have continued to improve more slowly, with the latter still lagging behind pre-pandemic demand.
Elie Maalouf, IHG’s chief executive, said: “Our teams have delivered strong results in the first half, with financial performance, hotel openings and signings all significantly above prior year comparisons.
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“Travel demand is very healthy, with RevPAR improving year-on-year across all our markets and exceeding 2019 pre-pandemic peaks for four consecutive quarters.
“In the Americas and EMEAA regions, leisure demand has remained buoyant and business and group travel continued to strengthen, while in Greater China demand has rebounded rapidly.”
FTSE 100-listed IHG’s share price was up by more than 1% in early trading.
