1. KEMMONS WILSON
Lucy Porter
Caroline Levesley,
Shreyash Kulkarni ,
Preeti Bidwai,
On,
Sachin Pandey

2. The Holiday Inn Impact
 American Pop-culture Icon
 Kemmons Wilson - “Father of the Hotel/Innkeeping
Industry”

3. Background
Born in Arkansas in 1913, moved to Tennessee
with his mother.
Father died when he was an infant – was forced to
perform manual labour growing up to support his
family
A natural entrepreneur: Popcorn Business, Pinball
Machines, Movie Theatre, Real Estate, Hotel
Industry
Married Dorothy Wilson in Dec- 1931.
First motel in Memphis, Tennessee. (Aug- 1952.)
Great family man with five children and everyone
involved in the his business.

4. Kemmons Wilson’s Career History
 Writing stock prices at a brokerage firm
 Bookkeeper
 Popcorn entrepreneur
 Pimento cheese sandwich sales
 Pinball machines
 Theater owner
 Ice cream store owner
 Cigarette machine concessions
 Wurlitzer Distributorship
 Home Builder
 Army Pilot (WWII)
 Financier of new projects
 Radio Station owner
 Holiday Inns

5. Vision
To provide
families
better
ways to
vacation
To start a chain of motels ( clean, air conditioned, and reasonably priced).
Each motel would provide a swimming pool, ice machines, and a restaurant.
Offered in-room telephones, televisions, free ice and free parking.
Kids stay and eat free

6. Success
 Kemmons Wilson’s August vacation from Tennessee to
Washington changed both his life and the world of hotels
dramatically.
 Success stems from: Low price with many amenities, stress
on comfort
 Spence Wilson: Pushing boundaries, innovating and
adapting to guests’ ever changing needs were the keys to
Holiday Inn's success.

7.  Kemmons Wilson found a gap in the market for consistent,
quality motels in the 1950s.
 Kemmons revolutionised the market through the offering of
family facilities, televisions and air-conditioning in every
room – a first for motels in the 1950s.
 Awards:
 National Business Hall of Fame 1982 Fortune Magazine
- Jr. Achievement
 Businessman of the Year Award 1970- Religious Heritage
of America

8. Autocratic
He was a creative man and thinker. He did what he thought. He
made decisions and implemented the idea and made it reality.
He had to face loss for a couple of times by his autocratic
decisions but later achieved success.
Leadership Qualities
• Creative
• Risk Taker
• Agile
• Trend Setter
• Convincer
Source: Robert M. O’Halloran, Kemmons Wilson: An American Original

9. Conclusion
 Kemmons Wilson died in 2003 - age 90
 2008 - Brand re-launch programme
 2009 - 100th Holiday Inn to be opened in Asian Market
 2010 - First Global Advertising Campaign
2,500 hotels re-launched by this date
 Currently 3,414 hotels = 434 357 rooms
 Averaging100 million guest annually
Source: Fact from the world

10. Reference
 Robert M. O’Halloran, Kemmons Wilson: An American Original
http://people.umass.edu/q4/0%200%20Profiles/Wilson_2004.pdf
 Fact from the world, http://www.ihgplc.com/index.asp?pageid=409