InterContinental to introduce new hotel brand

In a speech at the firm’s annual conference in Las Vegas, IHG’s America’s boss confirmed to staff that a new hotel brand was on the way.

“If you’re on a cereal aisle, and you’re Post (Foods LLC) or Kellogg (Co.), you want to dominate as much as you can of that shelf space,” Kirk Kinsell said.

“But you can’t have corn flakes all the way down. You need to have corn flakes, bran flakes, corn flakes with raisins, sugar-coated, Frosted Flakes, Cocoa Puffs, granola.”

Although InterContinental runs seven brands, including Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo and InterContinental, it believes that there is space for another type of hotel, reportedly aimed at frequent travelers.

It will be aimed at ‘mainstream, high-frequency travelers’ whose needs are not being met, and an official announcement is expected early next year.

On October 25, InterContinental also announced a brand revamp for upscale chain Crowne Plaza, promising a new identity and new features being introduced between 2013 and 2015 targeted at ‘strivers’ — young, aspiring travelers.

Earlier in 2011, Hilton debuted its first new brand in nearly 20 years, with the launch of the Home2Suites mid-range extended stay hotel in Fayetteville, North Carolina.