The world's largest hotelier InterContinental Hotels Group said the hotel market in the Americas came to a standstill in August as it began to feel the impact of a consumer downturn in the US.

The British-based owner of the InterContinental, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn brands, which earns almost 70 per cent of its income from the US, said yesterday revenue per available room (RevPAR) across the Americas was flat in August.

The group said RevPAR, a key measure for the hotel industry combining room rate and occupancy, was up 2.2 per cent in July.

Its shares fell 2.2 per cent to 723 pence at 8.12 a.m.

In August, InterContinental chief executive officer Andrew Cosslett warned the US market had slowed in the second quarter and said he expected conditions to become more challenging.

Earlier in the year, rival hotel group Marriott International cut its 2008 North American RevPAR growth forecast to between three to five per cent from five to seven per cent.

InterContinental Hotels Group is a worldwide owner, manager and franchisor of hotels and resorts.

During the year ended December 31, 2007, IHG, through its various subsidiaries owned, leased, managed or franchised hotels and guest rooms in nearly 100 countries around the world. IHG's brands comprised 3,949 franchised, managed, owned or leased hotels and 585,094 guest rooms.

The Company's brands include InterContinental Hotels & Resorts (InterContinental), Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts (Crowne Plaza), Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts (Holiday Inn), Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites, Candlewood Suites and Hotel Indigo.

It also manages the hotel loyalty programme, Priority Club Rewards. On May 16, 2007, the company disposed the Crowne Plaza in Santiago. Last year, the company owned 18 hotels. A year ago, it announced the sale of the 524-room Jamaica Holiday Inn Sunspree Hotel to Octagon Hotels Group Limited.