BASS Hotels and Resorts is changing the name of budget brand Holiday Inn Express to try to differentiate it from the upscale Holiday Inn brand.
The company said it sees huge potential in the UK for the expansion of budget brands and wants customers to know how the two brands differ. The new name will be Express by Holiday Inn.
Vice-president Holiday Inn Express for Europe, Middle East and Africa Shane Harris said: “This product is different from Holiday Inn and we want to build it as a brand in itself, rather than as an extension of Holiday Inn. We wanted the new name to make the brand more separate, but we have kept Holiday Inn in the title as we don’t want to lose that name’s strong endorsement.”
Holiday Inn Express currently has 70 hotels across Europe, the Middle East and Africa with 48 of them in the UK. Harris said he intends to boost that number by one property every two weeks during next year and wants 120 to be operating by 2003.
He said: “The brand has taken off in the past two years. In the UK the market in mid-market and upscale hotels is mature, but there is a gap in there for Holiday Inn Express.”
Friendly Hotels recently franchised the budget Sleep Inn brand from US-based Choice Hotels International to launch it in Europe, citing the same rationale.