In household laundry rooms and on clotheslines across the nation, a piece of Americana lives on…through towels. Borrowed Holiday Inn towels, that is
In household laundry rooms and on clotheslines across the nation, a piece of Americana lives on…through towels. Borrowed Holiday Inn towels, that is. Recognizing this trend as guests` affinity for the beloved brand rather than petty theft, Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts wants to wipe the slate clean as the hotel chain declares August 28, 2003, Towel Amnesty Day.
Over Labor Day weekend, Holiday Inn officially will give amnesty to those guests who have borrowed Holiday Inn towels during the brand`s 51-year history and will release more than 60,000 limited-edition green-striped, Holiday Inn-scripted towels at locations across the U.S. Apparently many Americans could use this informal absolution, as a recent Harris Interactive survey shows that one in five Americans has taken a hotel towel.
Everyone has a Holiday Inn story, and some of those stories involve our towels going home with our guests, said Mark Snyder, senior vice president, brand management, Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts for the Americas. Towel Amnesty Day is about forgiving the mother who needed the towel to wrap her child`s wet bathing suit for the drive home, just as you would excuse a close friend who has never returned that borrowed dish, he added. We`re not asking for them back. We don`t want people living with guilt, so we`re simply letting Americans know that all is forgiven on Towel Amnesty Day.
Beginning Thursday, August 28, guests at each of the more than 1,000 U.S. Holiday Inn hotels may be surprised with unexpected opportunities to take home one of the souvenir towels – 100 percent guilt-free.
Additionally, Holiday Inn will host Towel Amnesty events on Saturday, August 30, at six popular U.S. beaches – Clearwater, Fla., Hermosa Beach, Calif., Myrtle Beach, S.C., Oak Street Beach, Ill., Ocean City, Md. and Point Pleasant, N.J. Holiday Inn will give amnesty to beach-goers in three locations at each destination and will be distributing the brand new, limited-edition towels.
A ten-day countdown to Towel Amnesty Day will launch at www.holiday-inn.com/towels on August 18. The Web site will include a forum for people to share their towel stories – how they got them and where they`ve been all these years. For every story collected, Holiday Inn will donate one dollar to Give Kids The World http://www.gktw.org/, a charity founded in 1986 by Holiday Inn franchisee Henry Levinwirth. Give Kids The World is a 51-acre, non-profit resort for children with life-threatening illnesses who wish to visit central Florida`s best-loved attractions.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
