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| - InterContinental Hotels Group said Friday that demand began to recover in March, particularly in China and the United States, on the easing Covid health crisis and global vaccines rollout. IHG, which owns the InterContinental, Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza brands, said in a statement that the recovery was "notable" and continued into April. Bookings data suggested that there would also be "further improvement" in the coming months, it added. "As the rollout of vaccines becomes more established, travel restrictions lift, and economic activity rebuilds, traveller demand will continue to grow and generate further momentum in an industry recovery over the course of the year," said chief executive Keith Barr. He expressed confidence that IHG "is well positioned for sustained growth". IHG revealed also that global revenue per available room (RevPAR) -- a key industry measure -- tumbled 33.7 percent in the three months to the end of March compared with a year earlier. But the performance was skewed by an unfavourable comparison because the Covid-19 pandemic began to hit hard from the end of the first quarter of 2020. IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns almost 6,000 hotels, which together comprise almost 884,000 rooms in more than 100 countries. rfj/bcp/cdw
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