In its third-quarter results the group, which includes Fairmont, Sofitel, onefinestay and Pullman brands, said that business in the UK was growing 2.2%.

“Third-quarter occupancy rates were extremely high at 85%, notably due to the weak pound, which boosted the foreign short-stay leisure sector and led to the British favouring the UK as a main holiday destination,” the company said.

Revenue per available room (revpar) contracted 2% in London but is improving strongly in the rest of the country (+5%).

Accor’s like-for-like third-quarter revenue was up 1.8% to €1.54 billion.

Sebastien Bazin, chairman and chief executive of AccorHotels, said: “AccorHotels has once again delivered a robust performance that is even more remarkable given the particularly unfavourable situation in France during the summer following the terrorist attacks. With the integration of Fairmont, Raffles and Swissotel during the period, the group has established itself as a leading player in the global luxury hotel business.

“Our brands are attractive, our development is dynamic and our active management strategy for the HotelInvest property portfolio continues to deliver results.

“Thanks to these strengths, we have been able to hone our outlook for 2016 and consolidate the significant improvement in our operational and financial performance.”

In its 2016 third quarter, Accor said it continued to benefit from positive trends in most of its key markets, with growth in revpar in the UK, southern Europe, central Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia-Pacific.

The group’s main points of “vigilance” continue to be Belgium and France. The latter experienced a sharp decline in demand in the third quarter, when the portion of leisure-related business is traditionally higher.

The group has seen the opening of nearly 28,000 rooms on an organic basis since the beginning of the year (up 18% compared with 2015) and predicts record growth in 2016.

The group expects full-year 2016 earnings before interest and tax to amount to between €670 million and €690 million.