by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 8:35 AM ET, Thu May 7, 2026
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (IHG) is reporting a strong first quarter of the year, with positive development growth and increased demand in China and the United States.
Global RevPAR, or revenue per available room (a key hospitality industry metric), was up 4.4% from the first quarter of 2025, with RevPAR increasing in the Americas 3.6%, the Europe, Middle East and Africa region 5.6% and in Greater China 5.7%.
The average daily rate for the first quarter increased 2%, with occupancy up 1.5%.
IHG grew its net system size 5% year-over-year, opening its 7,000th property with over a million rooms now available across the world. IHG opened 82 hotels and resorts in the first quarter of the year. It has a global pipeline of 343,000 rooms in development.
All of this positive growth is creating confidence that IHG will achieve its full-year growth forecast and profit prediction, despite the U.S.-Israel war on Iran.
“Looking ahead, our comparable on-the-books global revenue for Q2 indicates continued growth, with the impact of the Middle East conflict and some wider disruption to international travel flows expected to be more than offset by increases in demand elsewhere,” explained CEO of IHG Hotels & Resorts, Elie Maalouf. “Our business model is strategically diversified and resilient in capturing demand across geographies, chain scales and the different stay occasions of business, leisure and groups travel, as well as being heavily weighted to domestic and intra-regional travel.
“While still early, our confidence of achieving full year consensus growth forecasts and profit expectations is underpinned by the strength of our performance year-to-date.”
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