IHG Hotels & Resorts has reported higher first-half profit and revenue, although disruption in the Middle East slowed room-revenue growth during the second quarter.
Revenue from reportable segments rose 7% to $1.255bn in the six months to June, while operating profit from those segments increased 10% to $665m. Adjusted earnings per share rose 13% to 274.7 cents.
Global revenue per available room, or RevPAR, increased 4.1% across the first half. Growth slowed from 4.4% in the first quarter to 3.5% in the second as conflict affected travel in the Middle East.
The EMEAA region recorded first-half RevPAR growth of 3%, but performance deteriorated as the period progressed. Growth of 5.6% in the first quarter slowed to 0.6% in the second, while Middle East RevPAR fell 19% during Q2.
Chief executive Elie Maalouf said: “Our diverse global footprint and better-than-expected demand in most markets around the world delivered strong RevPAR growth of +4.1% in the first six months of 2026.”
Trading elsewhere provided an offset. Americas RevPAR increased 4.8% during the half, including 4.5% growth in the US, while the UK recorded 3.1% growth in the second quarter.
The results demonstrate the advantage of geographic diversification for a hotel group operating across more than 100 countries. Regional conflicts can affect direct demand, air connectivity, travel confidence, insurance, and business itineraries, but weakness in one market can be absorbed more easily when other regions continue growing.
IHG’s ownership model provides another form of diversification. Most of its hotels are franchised or managed rather than owned directly, allowing the group to collect fees without funding the full property cost of each location.
The company opened almost 200 hotels in the first half and signed 352 more, taking its global estate to around 7,100 hotels. Its development pipeline contains approximately 2,400 additional properties.
That pipeline provides a source of future fee revenue that is partly independent of short-term changes in RevPAR. New openings expand the number of rooms generating franchise and management income, while owners carry much of the capital expenditure required to build or convert properties.
IHG is also investing in the technology and enterprise services that support those hotels, including booking infrastructure, loyalty, commercial systems, and ancillary fee products. The scale of that platform allows services developed centrally to be distributed across thousands of properties.
Business travel remains one part of the demand mix. Group-booking rooms revenue increased 6% globally in the first half, leisure rose 3%, and business revenue increased 2%. Corporate room nights were flat, indicating that the increase in business revenue was driven by pricing rather than volume.
The group generated $360m of adjusted free cash flow during the half. It is progressing through a $950m share-buyback programme and expects total shareholder returns, including dividends, to exceed $1.2bn during 2026.
That level of capital return depends on continued cash generation while IHG funds technology investment and supports expansion of its brands. The franchise-heavy structure means growth requires less direct property capital than an owned-hotel model, but the company remains exposed to travel demand through the fees its hotels generate.
IHG continues to expect the effects of Middle East disruption to be offset by demand elsewhere and has maintained its full-year profit and earnings expectations.
The second half will show whether that regional weakness remains contained. At the same time, the expanding hotel system gives IHG another route to growth even if room-demand conditions become more uneven across individual markets.
