Asian revPAR growth drives IHG

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) achieved a steady rise in revenues in the firstquarter of 2014, driven by its hotels in Asia.The company’s revenue per available room (revPAR) increased 6.0% globally in Q1 2014, compared to the same period last year.And while the AMEA (Asia, Middle East & Africa) region posted overall revPAR growthof just 3.8%, IHG noted that discounting the troubled markets of Thailand, Egypt andLebanon, the AMEA region’s revPAR actually jumped 7.1%. Australia and Japancontinued to perform well in the quarter, with revPAR growth of 7.6% and 10.1%respectively, while China climbed 3.9%.“We have made an excellent start to the year with our strongest revPAR performancein seven quarters and our best first quarter for pipeline signings in six years,” saidRichard Solomons, IHG’s chief executive. “This reflects the continued growthmomentum in the business and the strong preference for our portfolio of brandsfrom both owners and guests.”Globally, IHG’s occupancy increased 2.4% in Q1 2014 while average daily rates rose1.9%. The company opened 49 new hotels in the quarter, comprising 9,000 rooms,taking IHG’s total global portfolio to 4,704 hotels with 689,000 rooms.IHG also now has a pipeline of 1,146 hotels with 182,000 rooms, 45% of which areunder construction. And 50% of these new hotels will be located in developingmarkets. Source: Travel Daily Asia