Middle East troubles hit hotel group

However, the company’s third quarter profit was at the top end of expectations.

Growth in revenue per available room (RevPAR), a key industry measure, slowed to 4.7 per cent in October from 6.4 per cent in the third quarter.

InterContinental, which is behind the Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and InterContinental brands, said political unrest had led to a significant decline in revenue at its 10 hotels in Egypt and two hotels in Bahrain.

“What we saw in October was a slowdown in our reported numbers in Europe but there are reasons behind that.

“In the back end of the month and into November the pace looks quite good,” chief executive Richard Solomons said.

InterContinental said 2m US dollars had been knocked off its operating profit in the third quarter.

This was due to the Middle East unrest and the impact of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

It expects the full year impact to be 15m US dollars, in line with previous guidance.

InterContinental, which runs more than 4,400 hotels, posted a 33 per cent rise in third-quarter operating profit to 153m US dollars, driven by strong growth in China and the United States.

Mr Solomon said that the group’s mid-market brands had showed resilience in an uncertain economic environment.

“One of the important measures for us is that whatever the market environment, our brands continue to outperform which is what they have done consistently right through this year,” he said.