IHG’s Crowne Plaza Wants to Shake Off Traditional Business Traveler Image
Skift Take
It’s a bold decision for a hotel brand to reposition itself when the world of work is on the cusp of change. If it's the wrong call, it loses sight of its core market and winning back once-loyal business travelers may take a while.
IHG subsidiary Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts has laid out an ambitious plan to redefine its core guest: the business traveler.
Out goes the road warrior and conference delegate, in comes the side-hustler and "care economy" worker — among myriad other categories as part of the launch of its new blended travel program.
The upscale hotel group is almost prepared to ditch the pandemic-defining “bleisure traveler” moniker at a time when just about every other hotelier is targeting the demographic. The reason is that a "new, agile generation doesn’t want two opposing ideas awkwardly put together” Crowne Plaza argues in a whitepaper published Thursday.
Side-Hustling Guests
In a bid to identify new trends in travel as corporate working patterns evolve, the hotel group worked with global insights consultancy Stylus, and other research bodies, to garner the view of 6,200 consumers.
"Crowne Plaza Hotels, a well-known destination for travelers to stay close to airports, is steppin
