Business Management Skills

The Holiday Inn brand was initially created in 1952 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA by a builder Kemmons Wilson. His initial idea was to build accommodation for customers travelling around the USA. The first Holiday Inn was built on Summer Avenue in Memphis, this is the key road to and from Nashville. After the initial success of the Holiday Inn in 1954 Wilson built the chain with another businessman Wallace E. Johnson. Wilson came up with the idea of building the chain when he had taken a family road trip to Washington DC, he was let down with the quality and shape of the roadside motels that he and his family had to stay in, that he came to a decision to build himself.

When Wilson saw there was a requirement for such a service he quickly began to franchise the business and it developed radically. Wilson was keen for the future Low Cost Franchises to stand by his initial ideals of the properties being clean, standard, predictable, family friendly and available to road travellers. The growth of the Franchises was so rapid that by 1958 there were fifty Holiday Inns across the USA, one hundred by 1959, 500 by 1964 and the 1000th Holiday Inn launched in San Antonio, Texas, USA in 1968. The franchise was the guide in the motel market, it created a unique booking system for travellers across the USA and put substantial pressure on major hotel chains at that time. The business model still sets the standard for numerous leading brands today such as Travelodge, Best Western and Days Inn chains.

The Holiday Inn is still a widely renowned company but changing business surroundings saw the franchise lose its lead as the markets dominant force in the 1980s. In 1988 Holiday Inns International was bought by UK based Bass Brewers, a small time later the rest of the Holiday Inn properties were also bought as Wilson sold the last of his interest in the organisation. Today the Holiday Inn is still owned by the original Holiday Inn Group and rented as a franchise to Intercontinental.

The Holiday Inn franchise is still one of the most well-known hotel chains in the world. So if you are looking for a Franchise Opportunity or a Franchise For Sale in the leisure business then the Holiday Inn should be prominent on your list. The Franchises across the world still live up to Wilson’s ethics but put in much more for today’s market such as restaurants, room service, swimming pools and fitness suites. The franchise has tapped into the business market by offering 24 hour business facilities, meeting facilities and presenting frequent business consumers that chance to get points towards future stays with their Priority Club Rewards system.

Since the take over in 1999 to Intercontinental Hotels Group PLC the company has taken further stages in becoming the market head once again with the use of technology, marketing and support systems in the Franchises. A Franchise Opportunity within this industry and within the Holiday Inn franchise has never been more attractive. If you are one of these people looking for a Franchise For Sale with the Holiday Inn then the total investment charge depends on your area, the ongoing royalty charge is 5% and the term of agreement is 10 years and is renewable.