30 June 2015
The Holiday Inn® Brand Continues Journey to Extraordinary Campaign by Asking Travelers to Share Their Stories of Incredible Travel
Iconic Hotel Brand and Web and Mobile Travel Platform Roadtrippers Help Travelers Plan, Capture and Share their Road Trip Memories
ATLANTA – IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) today announces the Holiday Inn® brand’s new collaboration with the web and mobile travel platform Roadtrippers. The Holiday Inn brand’s Journey to Extraordinarycampaign, which launched in the summer of 2014, continues this summer with a focus on celebrating the joy of travel and the shared experiences travelers have while on the road. Together, the Holiday Inn brand and Roadtrippers will make it easier and more enjoyable for travelers to plan, chronicle and share their extraordinary travel experiences as they hit the road this summer.
Joining forces with the Cincinnati-based Roadtrippers is a natural fit for the Holiday Inn brand, as both companies were born out of the quintessential American road trip. More than 60 years ago, Holiday Inn brand founder Kemmons Wilson took a road trip with his family. After being frustrated by the lack of consistent, family-friendly lodging available, he decided to create his own hotel brand, and the Holiday Inn brand has been championing enjoyable travel for guests ever since. Throughout that time, the brand has constantly innovated to deliver what is important to guests – a hotel that is warm, welcoming and makes them feel cared for where they can strengthen existing connections and make new ones, making their journeys more meaningful.
Heather Balsley, Senior Vice President, Americas Brand Management, IHG said: “When we launched the Journey to Extraordinary campaign in 2014, guests told us that they had their own stories of incredible journeys and experiences at Holiday Inn hotels that they wanted to tell. We heard them and through this relationship with Roadtrippers, we want to celebrate each and every one of those journeys. This program is the perfect opportunity to connect with our guests who are passionate storytellers through an exciting platform like Roadtrippers, which appeals to travelers eager to share their stories.”
Driven by a shared desire to enable amazing journeys and the special moments that travelers experience during their trips, the brands came together to introduce a new page on the Roadtrippers site called “Extraordinary Journeys,” featuring user-generated content curated to inspire readers and fuel them to experience their own journeys. Currently, eight one-of-a-kind adventures – from one traveler’s exploration of the Apostle Islands Ice Caves to another’s motorcycle trip across the longest railroad trestle in the U.S. – are highlighted, and over the course of the summer, the brands will collaborate with the Roadtripper community to put fans in the driver’s seat and feature more of their powerful stories on the “Extraordinary Journeys” page and across both brands’ social media channels.
Joshua Smibert, Chief Operating Officer, Roadtrippers said: “At Roadtrippers we believe you’re always five minutes away from something interesting. Of course, the adventure is not just in discovering these places, but also in sharing the experience with others. Our travelers, like guests of Holiday Inn hotels, have asked to share their adventures with the larger Roadtrippers community. So we are excited to collaborate with the Holiday Inn brand and extend our platform to tell some of these interesting stories and encourage all people to connect around the joy of travel.”
There is no better way to get out and explore than by hitting the open road, and according to a recent study by AAA, current low gas prices mean that this summer and through the rest of the year, people will be doing just that. Six in 10 Americans say that they are more likely to take a road trip of 50 or more miles if gas prices remain near recent levels. Additionally, American Express Spending & Saving Tracker research shows that last year, four percent more travelers planned to take trips by car than the year before. While the historic tradition of the great American road trip remains unchanged, the way people share their experiences has evolved. An early 2015 report from Deloitte indicates that 83 percent of consumers use the Internet while on vacation. Of these, 33 percent post photos via Facebook with their friends during vacation and 48 percent post vacation photos when they return home.
Share Your Extraordinary Journey
Check out these extraordinary travel stories and tell us yours! We’re looking for people who are taking a road trip this summer and want to tell their story. We’ll be choosing our favorites and sharing them on Roadtrippers and the Holiday Inn brand website and social channels. To read, plan and share, visit https://roadtrippers.com/extraordinary-journeys?hi.
About the Holiday Inn® brand
With 1,209 hotels worldwide, Holiday Inn® is the most widely recognized lodging brand in the world and has helped millions of travelers discover the joy of travel since its inception in 1952. Designed to meet the needs of both business and leisure travelers, Holiday Inn hotels deliver memorable experiences through warm and welcoming service, contemporary design that blends the familiar with the new, and a sense of comfort unique to the brand and its iconic green sign. At Holiday Inn hotels, guests can find amenities to help them work and play, including full-service restaurants where Kids Eat Free, meeting and business facilities, bright swimming pools and comfortable lounges all designed to help guests relax and refresh, making travel more enjoyable for all. For more information about the Holiday Inn brand, visit www.holidayinn.com or call 1-888-HOLIDAY. Find us on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/holidayinn or Facebook www.Facebook.com/holidayinnhotels.
About Roadtrippers
Roadtrippers is the nation’s fastest-growing travel planning platform, streamlining discovery, booking, and navigation into one engaging and intuitive experience. Co-founders James Fisher and Tatiana Parent founded the free web and mobile app to help travelers discover the world around them in an entirely new way. Over 5.8 million trips have been planned on Roadtrippers since 2011, powered by a database of millions of the best travel locations including diners, national parks, museums, hotels and more.
[1] AAA Market Research; Gas Price Omnibus Study; April 2015
[2] American Express Spending & Saving Tracker; Americans Plan to Upgrade Homes, Wheels and Wardrobes; January 2014
[3] Deloitte; Social? That’s for consumers. For travel companies, social media means business.; January 2015
Ends
For further information please contact:
Jordan Worrall
[email protected]
+1 (770) 604 5010
About IHG®
IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is a global organisation with a broad portfolio of hotel brands, including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, HUALUXE® Hotels and Resorts, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, EVEN™ Hotels, Holiday Inn® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites® and Candlewood Suites®.
IHG manages IHG® Rewards Club, the world’s first and largest hotel loyalty programme with nearly 86 million members worldwide. The programme was relaunched in July 2013, offering enhanced benefits for members including free internet across all hotels, globally.
IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns more than 4,900 hotels and 720,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries, with more than 1,200 hotels in its development pipeline. Over 350,000 people work across IHG’s hotels and corporate offices worldwide.
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group’s holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales.
Visit www.ihg.com for hotel information and reservations and www.ihgrewardsclub.com for more on IHG Rewards Club. For our latest news, visit: www.ihg.com/media, www.twitter.com/ihg, www.facebook.com/ihg or www.youtube.com/ihgplc.