Chinese tourists flocking to London helped the giant InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) post its strongest revenue growth for seven quarters today.
Shares in the firm jumped 10% to 2228p on the FTSE 100 after it reported a 6% lift in revenue per room in the first three months of the year.
The owner of the Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza brands said the afterglow from the London 2012 Olympic Games and a boom in middle-class Chinese visitors, attracted by loosened visa rules, had boosted revenues in the capital.
The results came as research by Barclays today predicted Chinese tourists will spend £525 million in London by 2017, up by 88% from 2013. The study forecast US, French and Australian tourists will continue to be the most lucrative visitors to London and tourist spending will increase by 36% to £15 billion by 2017, as Russian and Brazilian visitor numbers swell.
InterContinental chief executive Richard Solomons said: “The change to visas has been very helpful in attracting Chinese tourists. If the rate of VAT and Air Passenger Duty could be improved, that would be very helpful to the economy.”
InterContinental, which owns 4600 hotels, announced plans to return $750 million (£444 million) to shareholders after selling hotels in San Francisco and New York. The company is considering selling further assets. It also plans to open six more hotels in London over the next four years.
