Fast-growing French hospitality giant AccorHotels reported a rise in UK domestic city stays over the summer due to the slump in the value of the pound.
The company reported UK revenue per available room (repar) up by 4% year-on-year in the three months to September.
AccorHotels said the UK had performed “very well” over the three months.
“Performance was mixed between London (+0.9%), where the occupancy rate edged down, and regions (+6.6%), with sustained business in most major cities driven by staycations as
British holidaymakers opted for domestic stays in the wake of the decline in the sterling exchange rate.”
The company also reported a “pronounced” recovery in leisure stays across France, notably on the Cote d’Azur a year on from last summer’s terror attack in Nice, and a 6.6% rise in revpar in Paris largely driven by a strong volume of leisure stays.
AccorHotels opened 73 hotels, representing more than 11,000 rooms, during the third quarter, taking the group across the threshold of 600,000 rooms, notably with the opening of its 800th hotel in the Asia-Pacific region.
The group’s pipeline at the end of September comprised 992 hotels and 178,000 rooms, of which 81% were in emerging markets and 47% in the Asia-Pacific region.
Organic development is expected to exceed 40,000 rooms in 2017, a record performance for the group.
Revenue from new businesses almost tripled year-on-year from €13 million to €32 million following the consolidation of John Paul, SquareBreak, TravelKeys, VeryChic and Availpro since the third quarter of 2016.
AccorHotels announced the acquisition of Gekko earlier in October to round out its range of hotel distribution solutions dedicated to business customers, creating a global leader in B2B hotel distribution.
Total third quarter revenues rose by 6.4% over the same period last year to €504 million enabling the company to expect full-year earnings [EBIT] to come in at the upper end of a target range of between €460 million-€480 million.
Chairman and CEO Sébastien Bazin said: “AccorHotels delivered another robust performance in the third quarter.
“The positive operating trends observed in our key markets in the first half were confirmed, and early signs of a recovery emerged in Latin America.
“The group continued its rapid development. In the course of the quarter, our hotel base crossed the symbolic mark of 600,000 rooms and our pipeline reached a record level, reflecting the increasingly strong attractiveness of our brand portfolio, which now includes Orient Express and Nextdoor, and will soon extend to Mantra, BreakFree and Peppers.
“This favourable trend is expected to continue until the end of the year, allowing us to reach the upper end of the target EBIT range announced in July.”