InterContinental Hotels sees sales collapse

InterContinental Hotels Group expects sales to have plunged by a record 80 per cent in April as the coronavirus outbreak shuts its chains, including Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn.

IHG, the world's largest hotel operator by number of rooms, added that global revenue per available room -- a key industry measure -- tanked 55 percent in March, when the world implemented mass lockdowns to contain the deadly COVID-19 outbreak. RevPAR slumped 25 percent over the first quarter from a year earlier, it added in a results statement.

"COVID-19 represents the most significant challenge both IHG and our industry have ever faced," said chief executive Keith Barr. With around 15 percent of its hotels currently shut, including InterContinental sites, London-listed IHG has offered facilities to frontline health workers and the homeless.

"I would like to sincerely thank everyone at IHG... for the way they have responded to this challenge," Barr added in Thursday's release.

"This includes protecting the health and safety of guests and colleagues... and repurposing hotels to provide essential activities including accommodation to frontline workers, military personnel and vulnerable members of society."