Audio Interview w/ John Merkin, Director of Hotel Innovations for Holiday Inn Marketing, Six Continents Hotels - Comments on First Next-Generation Holiday Inn Prototype Hotel Slated For Atlanta

Six Continents Hotels, Inc., the owner of the Holiday Inn brand, announced today it has signed the lease agreement on the first of its next-generation Holiday Inn prototype hotels. This newest prototype will be located near Atlanta in Gwinnett County, on Sugarloaf Parkway near the Gwinnett Civic Center. The new hotel will be owned and operated by Six Continents Hotels, Inc. Diplomat Hotels will oversee the construction, which will begin in October 2002. The hotel is expected to open Fall 2003. This is the first of 25 corporate-owned Holiday Inn hotels that Six Continents Hotels has committed to build over the next five years. Click here for the related Six Continents Press Release!

John Merkin - Director of Hotel Innovations, Holiday Inn Marketing - Six Continents Hotels
John Merkin is the director of hotel innovations for the Holiday Inn brand with Six Continents Hotels. His responsibilities include brand extension marketing, channel management and new products & standards for the Holiday Inn full-service brands. Merkin has worked with the Holiday Inn brand for 20 years, nine of which were spent in hotel operations. His tenure with Six Continents Hotels spans a variety of key positions within the company, including: vice president of Holiday Inn franchise services; director of field marketing, midscale hotel group; director of product development, midscale hotel division; and senior HR recruiter, company managed hotels. Merkin received his B.S. from Southern Illinois University and earned his MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. He resides in Alpharetta, Ga, with his wife and two children.

Kevin Heilbronner is the US Editor for hsyndicate.com, wiredhotelier.com and hospitalitynet.org, providing content for these websites in the form of articles and both audio and video interviews. Based outside of Washington DC, Heilbronner has worked with Hospitality Net to conduct interviews at several hospitality trade shows in the US and Europe over the last year. A familiar voice in Washington, DC, Heilbronner is the stadium announcer for the NBA's Washington Wizards, WNBA's Washington Mystics, WUSA's Washington Freedom and DC United of MLS. He resides in Centreville, VA and can be reached via [email protected].