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Time to play another game of "Is it a boutique hotel or a condom brand?" We won't go that far here, but we wonder if IHG will be willing to inject a bit more personality and more of a story into its newest brand.
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) finally has a name for its new midscale hotel brand that it announced in June: Avid Hotels.
IHG CEO of the Americas, Elie Maalouf, spoke to Skift about the new brand, the chain's 13th, and described it as "championing the everyday traveler at an everyday price," and catering to a $20 billion market of more than 14 million travelers.
When asked what he wanted consumers to associate with the brand, Maalouf said the word he hoped would come to mind is "confident." His descriptors echoed what IHG senior vice president of brands and marketing Heather Balsey told Skift in June, about how this brand would be "fresh, fair, and frank," and "completely rethinks what a hotel in this space should stand for."
The CEOs of InterContinental Hotels Group, Hilton, Marriott, and Wyndham Are Speaking at Skift Global Forum 2017. Get Tickets Now
Signature features of the new hotel brand include the following:
All hotels will be newbuilds, designed for sp