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IHG reports recovery in terror affected destinations

InterContinental Hotels saw a recovery over the summer in countries previously affected by terrorism.

Global revenue per available room rose by 2.3% in the third quarter.

The Holiday Inn parent opened 11,000 rooms in the three months, an increase of 4.1% to 786,000 rooms.

“Markets previously impacted by terrorist attacks grew strongly, including revpar growth of 6% in France, and double digit growth in Belgium and Turkey,” IHG said in a trading update this morning.

“Performance across several markets in Southern Europe was also strong due to increased demand over the summer months.”

The UK saw revpar rise by 4% with IHG brands outperforming rivals in London by 3% and 5% in the regions.

“Excluding the effect of the hurricanes and these one-off events, we estimate that underlying US revpar was marginally positive in the quarter,” the company added.

Chief executive Keith Barr said: “The international expansion of our newest brands is gathering pace.

“This week we continued the global roll out of Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, with a landmark signing in Bali and two signings in key Chinese urban and resort locations, Shanghai and Sanya Bay.

“We have several further deals in progress which will secure our presence for the brand in ten major markets around the world.

“We have also expanded the global footprint of EVEN Hotels, with signings in Shanghai, Sanya Bay and Auckland, New Zealand.

“Franchise Plus, our franchising solution for Holiday Inn Express in China, is gaining momentum with six hotels now open and a further 58 in the pipeline, including 19 signings in the quarter. We expect a further ramp up in activity over the next 12 months.”

Barr added: “Looking ahead, despite macro-economic and geopolitical uncertainties around the world, we remain confident in the outlook for the remainder of the year.”

IHG’s cloud-based guest reservations system remains on track for roll-out starting by the end of the year with full deployment expected by late 2018 or early 2019.

The IHG app for mobile passed a milestone of $1 billion of gross room revenues booked through the platform in September, up fourfold over the past three years.

“Having been downloaded over 9 million times since its launch, it is one of the highest rated hotel mobile apps on the iOS app store,” IHG said.

IHG’s cloud-based guest reservations system remains on track for roll-out starting by the end of the year with full deployment expected by late 2018 or early 2019.

The IHG app for mobile passed a milestone of $1 billion of gross room revenues booked through the platform in September, up fourfold over the past three years.

“Having been downloaded over 9 million times since its launch, it is one of the highest rated hotel mobile apps on the iOS app store,” IHG said.

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