IHG Grows 5.3% but Gulf States Record a 12% Decline

IHG Group, operator of InterContinental and Holiday Inn hotels, announced a 5.3% growth in revenue per available room in the third quarter of 2026, with average daily room rates rising 3.9% and occupancy up 0.9 percentage points.

Group demand rose 10% on a like-for-like revenue basis, compared to 5% for leisure and 4% for business travel, according to the third-quarter statement. Geographically, growth was distributed across the Americas at 6.8%, and Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific at 5%, while Greater China declined 3.3%.

In the six Gulf states, revenue per available room dropped 12%, while the Middle East's performance shifted from a 19% decline in the second quarter to near stability in the third quarter, with good performance in Egypt and Turkey. The company stated that Greater China was affected by weather conditions and changes in public holiday schedules.

The hotel development pipeline reached 353,000 rooms across 2,426 hotels, a 3.2% increase year-on-year, representing one-third of the current network size of 1.06 million rooms. The company signed 164 hotels during the quarter and opened 92 hotels, reaffirming its confidence in meeting market expectations for the fiscal year.

What Do These Terms Mean?

Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR): A metric for hotel performance equal to room revenue divided by the number of available rooms, combining occupancy rate and average room rate.

Average Daily Rate (ADR): The average amount paid by a guest for a room per night, used alongside occupancy rate to calculate revenue per available room.

Pipeline: Signed or under-construction hotels that will join the company's network in the future, used as an indicator of upcoming growth.