Accor, the world’s fourth-largest hotel group behind the InterContinental, Marriott and Starwood chains, said hotel revenue rose across all categories in the quarter, mainly led by higher occupancy rates, and that this should continue in coming months.

Chief Financial Officer Sophie Stabile said trends for April were in line with those of the first quarter but that visibility on bookings was lower than in the past.

Meanwhile prices in the budget hotel sector in the US — where Accor owns the Motel 6 chain — started stabilizing.

“The group remains confident that the hotel cycle will continue to recover in 2011, mainly driven by demand, but uncertainty created by recent geopolitical events in Japan, Africa and the Middle East, and by the macro-economic environment, makes us cautious,” she said.

Accor reported total quarterly sales of 1.354 billion euros, broadly in line with the 1.359 billion forecast in a Reuters poll of six analysts.

The rise in like-for-like hotel revenue alone was 5.6 percent to 1.302 billion euros.

Revenue in the upscale and mid-scale segment was lifted by higher average prices in key European countries while the Italian and Spanish markets that were particularly hit by the economic crisis, showed the first signs of stabilization.

In the US economy sector, like-for-like revenue rose 4.1 percent, as occupancy rates continued to improve and prices rose for the first time since the second quarter 2008

“Prices stabilized from January and rose in February-March,” Stabile said.

Accor is first among its key peers to report quarterly sales, with Marriott International following on April 21, Starwood on April 28 and InterContinental on May 10.

Hoteliers are seeing a pick-up in demand as improved economic prospects encourage people to travel again.

With operations in 90 countries and 4,200 hotels ranging from the luxury Sofitel chain to the budget Ibis and Motel 6 operations, Accor has a market capitalization of 6 billion euros.

Accor’s exposure to Japan was limited, Stabile said.

The group has nine hotels in Japan, representing less than 0.4 percent of its sales and its hotels are located in areas away from the earthquake zone.

Accor, which opened a record 6,600 rooms during the quarter, mainly under management and franchise contracts as part of its asset-light strategy, confirmed its goal of opening 30,000 new rooms this year.

Last year, Accor split into separately listed hotel and service voucher businesses to boost growth and expand abroad.