Intercontinental Hotels revenues rise in America

Intercontinental Hotels Group, the world's biggest hotelier, reported higher revenue growth at its American operations and said customer demand had remained strong despite the global economic slowdown.

"The US industry experienced record levels of room night demand in the third quarter as leisure travellers remained resilient through the summer and demand from business travellers stayed strong," Intercontinental said in a statement on Monday.

The company, which owns the Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn brands, said total revenues per available room (RevPAR) at its American operations rose 9.5 per cent during the third quarter, outperforming broader industry growth of 7.9 per cent.

Intercontinental Hotels' third quarter business update echoes a similarly robust performance by European rival Accor earlier this month.

Accor, the world's fourth-largest hotel group, said it had not yet seen any impact on demand from the economic slowdown and expected steady revenue growth to continue into the fourth quarter.

In September, Intercontinental Hotels Chief Executive Richard Solomons told Reuters that his group had weathered the recession following the Lehman Bros collapse in 2008 better than its competitors.

He added that he was confident but not complacent on prospects as the group has low debt and an investment-grade rating.