The company’s largest marketing campaign in over a decade brings together two iconic leaders in global travel to demonstrate the power of in-person connection.

IHG® Hotels & Resorts (IHG®) announces the launch of a global marketing campaign for the company’s two largest brands, Holiday Inn® and Holiday Inn Express®. We’re there, a new, unified communications strategy, celebrates authentic moments of human connection and the role these two industry icons have played in connecting people all over the world for nearly seven decades.

We’re there launches in the U.S. on June 10, 2019, and globally later this summer. The multimillion-dollar campaign focuses on what Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express have always firmly placed at their core – human connections. Since the first hotel opened in Memphis in 1952, Holiday Inn has played a pivotal role in bringing people together through travel.

Now a family of nearly 4,000 hotels around the world, the brands remain true to their initial purpose – to be a place where everyone is welcome, and guests can focus on spending quality time with others – helping make the world a little bit smaller. This heritage, authenticity and ubiquity is the inspiration behind the launch of We’re there. The message is particularly timely now, as inclusiveness and the need to connect on a personal level are essential elements of emotional well-being and global unity.

In a world where technology increasingly dominates how people connect, celebrating real, in-person moments matters now more than ever. A proprietary survey conducted by IHG in the U.S. found:

• In the last 12 months, many Americans have communicated more often digitally than in person, including:
• 67 percent have primarily engaged with a good friend through digital channels
• 59 percent admit to communicating more with family members via technology than in person (including 39 percent with parents or guardians)
• 88 percent of business travelers state they would rather have a meeting in person versus virtually

These trusted brands play a key role in enabling in-person moments to take place. With hotel teams welcoming millions of guests through their doors, Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express hotels make travel more accessible and are uniquely positioned to help travelers solve this digital divide and connect with those who matter most to them.

Claire Bennett, Global Chief Marketing Officer for IHG, said: “Being there in person matters. We know the reason people travel is not exclusively about the location itself; it’s almost always about the people. Travel brings families and friends closer, creates stronger relationships among business colleagues and connects the world.

“Across our hotels, we share some of the most important moments in our guests’ lives – from birthdays and weddings to key business trips and job interviews. The history and heritage of these two brands in particular means we've always been there, so our guests can be, too. The launch of We’re there reminds us all of the importance of these ‘people’ trips and how we can help make that happen in more places, for more people, more often.”