Despite the UK’s earlier relaxing of the last Covid-19 restrictions meaning IHG faced a tougher comparable, revenue per available room was still up 18%. That was mostly thanks to a 22% increase in London, after now-departed CFO Paul Edgecliffe-Jonhson told the Standard in February that there was “still room” for a further rebound in the capital.
The growth came from all types of traveler, with business and lesiure both growing strongly.
The sharpest growth though, was in China, where revenue more than doubled as expected.
New CEO Elie Malouf, who took over from Keith Barr after he left for the US at the end of June, said: “I am honoured to take over as IHG’s group CEO and excited to look ahead with our talented teams and owners all around the world to an important next chapter of growth. Our teams have delivered strong results in the first half, with financial performance, hotel openings and signings all significantly above prior year comparisons.
“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.”
IHG is also launching a new ,”midscale” brand which CFO Michael Glover told the Standard will come in just below the price point of Holiday Inn Express.
However, he said the launch was because of long-standing demand in that segment of the market, rather than customers trading down to cheaper hotels.
