IHG H1 RevPAR Climbs 4.1% as Americas Demand Lifts Earnings

IHG Hotels & Resorts increased global revenue per available room by 4.1 percent in the first half of 2026, lifting operating profit from reportable segments by 10 percent to $665 million. Strong consumer spending, group travel, and major athletic demand in the Americas drove the company's financial growth and fee margins. [1]

What drove IHG's RevPAR performance across the Americas?

RevPAR across the Americas expanded 4.8 percent across the first half of 2026, supported by a 3.3 percent rise in average daily rate and a one percentage point gain in occupancy. [1] In the United States, trading accelerated as the period progressed, stepping up from 3.4 percent growth in the first quarter to 5.2 percent in the second quarter. [1] U.S. performance was led by group rooms revenue, which jumped 10 percent, while leisure demand increased 4 percent and business travel grew 3 percent. [1]

As reported by Hotel Dive, second-quarter Americas RevPAR specifically gained 5.4 percent year over year, aided by broader economic resilience and major sports traffic. [3] Chief Financial Officer Michael Glover noted on an earnings call that the FIFA World Cup contributed approximately 100 basis points to Americas second-quarter RevPAR growth, paralleling similar tournament demand gains reported by competitor Hilton. [3]

How did global financial and fee metrics track in H1 2026?

Total revenue for the group rose 6 percent to $2.659 billion, while total operating profit rose 8 percent to $671 million. [1] According to Asian Hospitality, revenue from reportable segments increased 7 percent to $1.255 billion, and fee business revenue advanced 7 percent to $971 million. [1] Operating profit across the core fee business grew 9 percent to $640 million, expanding fee margins by 1.2 percentage points to reach 65.9 percent. [1]

Adjusted earnings per share grew 13 percent to 274.7 cents, compared to 242.5 cents across the prior-year period. [1] Free cash flow generation remained healthy, with the group generating $360 million in adjusted free cash flow during the first six months. [1] IHG confirmed it stays on schedule to return more than $1.2 billion to shareholders across full-year 2026 while meeting previous consensus full-year profit and earnings targets. [1]

What did development and conversion numbers reveal about expansion?

IHG opened 197 hotels representing 31,500 rooms globally during the first half, marking an 8 percent organic increase when excluding the 2025 acquisition of the Ruby brand. [1], [3] Net system growth reached 5 percent year on year, expanding the operational global footprint to 7,109 properties containing 1,048,731 rooms. [1] Signings advanced at an equal pace, with the company securing 352 hotels representing 49,196 rooms—also up 8 percent organically. [1]

Conversions formed a primary vehicle for unit expansion, contributing 43 percent of all openings and 49 percent of signings across the six-month period. [1] The Americas division specifically executed signings for 12,500 rooms. [3] Chief Executive Officer Elie Maalouf noted that the conversion-oriented Noted Collection brand accounted for one-third of all conversion signings, while the Ruby brand expanded to 42 open hotels from 30 properties at acquisition. [3] Across the United States, the total operating estate reached 4,129 hotels with 1.4 percent system growth, backed by an active pipeline representing 20 percent of existing domestic inventory. [1]

How did international operations perform against external disruptions?

Global first-half RevPAR stood at 4.1 percent despite regional friction in select overseas territories. [1] Trading figures reported by Asian Hospitality detailed that global RevPAR rose 4.4 percent in the first quarter—led by 5.7 percent growth in Greater China and 5.6 percent in the EMEAA division—followed by 3.5 percent global growth in the second quarter. [1], [3] Continued hostilities in the Middle East disrupted international travel in that region, yet broader travel volume in EMEAA and Greater China mitigated those losses. [1]

What technology deployments are rolling out to properties?

IHG is moving ahead with property-level software transitions, targeting installation of its cloud-based property management system in 4,000 hotels by the end of 2026. [3] Technology initiatives also encompass artificial intelligence deployments organized into guest acquisition and loyalty, hotel performance, and corporate efficiency. [3] Recent consumer-facing additions include an app integration within ChatGPT for live booking channel connectivity, conversational search tools across direct web platforms, and trial runs of an updated cloud-based customer relationship management engine. [3]