As the travel industry finds itself in the midst of the first peak travel season since the beginning of the pandemic, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts commissioned a survey of more than 1,200 U.S. consumers to learn more about business travel habits, learning 65 percent of Millennials, aged 25–44 years old, and 59 percent of Gen Z, ages 18–24 years old, prefer to work for a company offering frequent travel or flexible blended travel as a perk. Blended travel is the combination of business travel with leisure travel.

Holiday Inn & Suites ® Atlanta Perimeter – Dunwoody © IHG

As a result, plans to open new Crowne Plaza hotels were accelerated  — 107, in fact, for an additional 27,342 Guest Rooms — in the next three years. Additionally, there are plans to renovate 50 percent of the Crowne Plaza portfolio consisting of more than 400 hotels. As the brand sees an uptick in business travel across the board, several properties lead the blended travel way, including the Crowne Plaza HY36 Midtown Manhattan, the Crowne Plaza North Augusta, the Crowne Plaza Asheville and new properties in Vietnam, Hungary, Poland and Australia. These new Crowne Plaza properties each have distinctive style that meet the needs of today’s modern business traveler, whether they seek a dedicated workspace or one with a social setting.

In order to better identify the needs of its guests who seek combined business and leisure travel, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts launched The Future of Blended Travel white paper, identifying four emerging sub-trends:

• Reworking Work: Traveling to hotels or resorts in exotic locations as a base for remote flexible working
• Hybrid Living, Hybrid Lives: Increasing numbers of business travelers plan to extend work travel with leisure days, with flexibility the key element, enabled by new work practices
• Upskilling and Side-Hustles: Upskillers and Side Hustlers use travel to fuel inspiration, feed curiosity and enable connections
•  A New Care Economy: Families, including children and grandparents, want to travel now more than ever before

Crowne Plaza ® Kearney © IHG

Crowne Plaza destinations meet the needs of this new type of traveler with purposefully designed services and spaces that match a blended lifestyle. Its Plaza Workspace provide spaces for solo and collaborative work, including The Studio, which allow guests to work, eat and play in a dynamic environment. WorkLife Guest Rooms combine comfort, connectivity and flexibility across distinct areas that maximize space for all of guests’ needs.

Holiday Inn® hotels also delivers for blended travelers, offering warmth, trust and familiarity. The brand has nearly 1,200 hotels globally, including more than 500 properties across the United States. Great sleep, flexible meeting spaces, complimentary business services and a fitness center earn Holiday Inn hotels a spot among the most trusted travel brands. Travelers can also find full-service restaurants and bars, 24/7 sundry shops and markets, inviting lobbies and multifunction Guest Rooms.

Find flexibility in the future of your business travel with Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn hotels and all brands within the IHG® Hotels & Resorts family.