IHG® today revealed the name of its new high-quality midscale brand, avid™ hotels, alongside a brand logo and renderings of the hotel exterior, public space and guest rooms. First introduced to owners at the IHG Americas Conference in June, avid hotels is franchise ready beginning today, officially marking the start of licensing in the U.S. for this much-anticipated new brand.
More than 150 owners have already expressed interest in the brand demonstrating the strong demand and great potential for avid hotels in this market segment. IHG expects the first avid hotels locations to begin construction in early 2018, and the first hotel is anticipated to open in early 2019.
Keith Barr, Chief Executive Officer, IHG, said: “We built our Holiday Inn Express® brand into a hugely successful, leading midscale brand. Now, with the introduction of avid hotels, we’re set to add another one and extend IHG’s leadership position in this segment. With 14 million potential customers looking for the type of hospitality avid hotels will offer, this new hotel brand represents a significant growth opportunity for IHG and our family of owners.”
This brand is designed for travelers who want a hotel stay that finally meets their expectations for the type of hospitality they value most – the basics done exceptionally well – at a price point expected to be about $10-15 less than IHG’s industry-leading Holiday Inn Express brand.
Elie Maalouf, Chief Executive Officer, IHG, The Americas, added: “Our extensive consumer research and conversations with owners identified a clear opportunity to reach an important set of business and leisure travelers in a vastly underserved $20 billion segment of the U.S. midscale market. We applied our insights, expertise and scale to deliver an experience that features modern and stylish designs, superior guest rooms and public spaces and great service – all at an excellent value. I have no doubt avid hotels will continue IHG’s success in delivering what our guests want, while driving superior returns for our owners.”
