Indigo woos mid-market

Hotel group InterContinental is launching a new brand called Indigo in a bid to help it tap into the mid-range hotel market in the USA.

Hotel Indigo will be InterContinental's seventh brand and the first property under the new flag is scheduled to open in October in Atlanta, Georgia.

Expansion of the new brand will be concentrated in the USA and will be marketed to hoteliers and franchisees as a conversion brand that they can switch to if they are already running a hotel under another flag. Room rates at the new hotels, which will be marketed to consumers as being at the top end of the mid-market sector, will be about $100 (£56) a night.

InterContinental chief executive Richard North said: "Hotel Indigo fills a critical gap in our industry by addressing middle-market consumers who are trading up to higher levels of quality and taste, but still seeking value."