Holiday Inn, the most widely recognized lodging brand in the world, celebrates its 50th Birthday by inviting families on an "All-American Road Trip" this summer.  Adults age 18 and older can submit an essay describing their favorite adult or childhood experience with Holiday Inn for a chance to win a family vacation to some of America's favorite landmarks and destinations.

The Original Holiday Inn (Memphis 1952)

One Grand Prize winner and his/her family will win a 10-day vacation package that will include visits to various landmarks and destinations, transportation provided by Hertz, gas, food and lodging at Holiday Inn hotels.  Fifty runners-up will win weekend get-away packages at any of the 1,100 Holiday Inn hotels across the United States.

"Ninety percent of American travelers have stayed at a Holiday Inn hotel, and we look forward to hearing about the fond memories that our guests have created at our hotels over the past 50 years," said Greg Price, vice president of marketing for the Holiday Inn brand.  Since Holiday Inn hotel's founder Kemmons Wilson introduced the nation's first family-oriented roadside hotel in 1952, leisure, family and business travelers have taken to the American road.   According to the Travel Industry Association of America, more than 75 percent of travel in the United States is still by automobiles, trucks or RV's, and 56 percent of all overnight trips include a hotel or motel stay.  

"Over the past fifty years, Holiday Inn hotels have revolutionized national road travel and set a standard for the hotel industry," said Price.  "The All-American Road Trip revisits the importance of road travel within the United States and reinforces the significant role Holiday Inn has played in American culture and will continue to play for the next 50 years."

How to Enter

Contest entries must include an essay of 150 words or less describing a favorite adult or childhood experience with Holiday Inn, as well as a recent family photo. Each entry must also include the following information:  name, age, names of immediate family members and their ages (depicted in photo), address (including city, state, and zip code), home telephone number (including area code) and e-mail address (if any). Judges will select the Grand Prize-winning essay based on originality, creativity and its ability to capture the warm, friendly spirit of  Holiday Inn. 

All contest entries must be received no later than April 15, 2002.  Entries can be submitted by visiting www.holiday-inn.com.  Entries can also be mailed to Holiday Inn All-American Road Trip, PO Box 7269, Melville, NY 11775-7269.  No purchase necessary; void where prohibited; open to residents of the 50 United States and D.C.; 18 years of age or older.  For more detailed contest rules and information, visit www.holiday-inn.com.

Holiday Inn's 50th Anniversary

American entrepreneur Kemmons Wilson opened the first Holiday Inn hotel in 1952 in Memphis, Tenn., after he returned from a family road trip discouraged over the lack of family and value-oriented lodging.  Over the past fifty years, Holiday Inn Hotels, with 1,600 properties worldwide, has retained those core ideals of family, value and entrepreneurial spirit and grown to become the most recognized lodging brand in the world.  

Six ContinentsSM Hotels, the hotel business of Six Continents PLC of the United Kingdom  [LON:SXC, NYSE:SXC (ADRs)], owns, manages, leases or franchises more than 3,260 hotels and 514,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries and territories.