IHG enjoys growth in American bookings as downturn shrugged off

By This Is Money
Updated: 14:45 EDT, 24 October 2011

A resurgence of holidaymakers who have shrugged off the downturn to stay at InterContinental’s American hotels have helped the Holiday Inn owner post a record third quarter trading update.

The world’s biggest hotels group said resilience in the face of the global economic slowdown means it has enjoyed higher revenue growth at its US operations.

Bucking trend: A resurgence of holidaymakers who have shrugged off the downturn to stay at InterContinental¿s American hotels have helped the group post a record third quarter trading update

The firm (up 10p to £11.25) said its American business experienced record levels of demand from leisure travellers in the third quarter, and business customers also continued booking rooms.

IHG said total revenues per available room – a key industry measure known as RevPAR – at its US operations rose 9.5 per cent during the period, outperforming broader industry growth of 7.9 per cent. This was up from 6.6 per cent a year ago.

Analyst Julien Richer at broker Raymond James, said that ‘demand from business customers remains solid’ and should continue into 2012.

Leading global hotel companies have so far managed to shrug off any major side-effects from the economic slowdown.