Holiday Inn Names New Sr. VP Brand Mgmt.

Lodging industry veteran Mark Snyder has been named senior vice president of brand management for Six Continents Hotels' Holiday Inn brand in North America. Most recently, Snyder held a comparable position at Hilton Hotels Corp.'s upscale Embassy Suites brand. Moving to such a well-known midprice brand as Holiday Inn poses both an opportunity and a challenge, Snyder said, especially given the effect the weak economy has had on many travel buyers' hotel programs.

"Considering the economy today, the opportunity in the midscale sector is absolutely huge," Snyder said. "We know for sure trading down is happening out there. For travel buyers seeking more value at a better price than full-service chains, such brands as Holiday Inn are definitely an option. Yet, in truth it's not really about buyers trading down as much as just keeping focused on what business travelers today need to remain productive while on the road." Snyder drew a contrast to 1999 and 2000, "when demand for lodging was off the chart and the economy was booming. Business travelers' lodging choices may have been much more egocentric, a luxury neither they nor buyers can afford today."

With 1,100 hotels in North America, Holiday Inn has one of the largest distributions of any lodging brand. Out of this inventory, about 80 properties are Holiday Inn Select, which offer a higher level of business traveler-friendly services and amenities. For Snyder, it's precisely the brand's size and visibility that are his biggest challenges. "We're analyzing whether the Select portion of the portfolio should grow or if we should take those business traveler services and amenities and apply them to the core Holiday Inn brand overall," Snyder said.

Similarly, he was aware that for midprice brands as large as Holiday Inn, both buyers and travelers frequently had concerns about consistency. There's no doubt consistency is important, he said, "but we've got to figure out what consistency means to a business traveler, or any consumer for that matter. Consistency is a very broad word that covers a wide territory. Everybody talks about it. It's what brands represent to consumers, what gives them power, but what is it we want to be consistent about? It means understanding how your target travelers define consistency in a hotel brand, specifically one in our category."

Snyder also is well aware that the midprice category—both chains that provide food and beverage, such as Holiday Inn, and those that do not—has mushroomed in recent years and, therefore, faces intense competition. "The goal is to identify the one-to-three major things that drive the brand to its tipping point," he said, "and then get to the top of popularity with travelers in this segment."