Holiday Inn-owner sees 80% slump in April room revenue

Holiday Inn-owner InterContinental Hotels said on Thursday it expects revenue per available room (RevPAR) to plunge 80% in April as the coronavirus crisis was the "biggest challenge the hotel industry has ever faced".

The Denham, UK-based company said the occupancy levels dropped to historic lows in March and April, with first-quarter global RevPAR slumping 25%. Travel and leisure businesses have been among the worst hit by the pandemic, with hundreds of billions of dollars in business trips and holidays canceled as countries impose sweeping restrictions.

The Crowne Plaza, Regent, and Hualuxe operator said around 15% of its estate was closed by April-end, with half its hotels in Europe, Middle East, Asia, and Africa being shut. "In the U.S., our biggest market, our franchise portfolio of 3,750 mainstream hotels has seen lower levels of RevPAR decline than the industry, and as at the end of April we had ~90% of our estate open," the British hotel operator said.

RevPAR from its Greater China hotels plunged 65.3%, reflecting the impact of the outbreak in January, IHG said, but added that occupancy levels are now running in the mid-20% range, up from around 5% in mid-February. Last month, the company had said it raised 600 million pounds from Bank of England loans under the government's coronavirus aid scheme. It had also announced $150 million in cost cuts earlier this year.