IHG CEO Barr to step down as Holiday Inn owner sees China rebound
Barr #Barr
(Reuters) -IHG Plc on Friday said top boss Keith Barr would step down from his role next month, as the Holiday Inn owner reported first-quarter results buoyed by a recovery in Greater China.
The hotel operator said first-quarter revenue per available room (RevPAR) – a key measure of the industry’s top-line performance, jumped 33%, fuelled by a 75% increase in the Greater China region.
“Leisure demand has remained buoyant, and there has been further return of business and group travel as expected,” outgoing Chief Executive Barr said in a statement, adding that a rebound in Greater China helped the firm.
However, tier 1 cities in China saw a slower return to international travel, the company said. Last year, the same period also included the Beijing Winter Olympics.
52 year-old Barr, who took on the top role in 2017 will be succeeded by company insider and Americas head Elie Maalouf.
Americas RevPAR was up 18% compared with a year earlier, the Crowne Plaza owner said.
Still, hotel operators, among the hardest hit during the pandemic, have been pressured as the rebound in international travel early last year was offset by snap lockdowns in China and a decline in consumer spending.
When compared to 2019, group RevPAR for the quarter is up about 6.8%, and China RevPAR was still down 9%.
(Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar and Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips, Rashmi Aich and Conor Humphries)