The hotel company Grupo Posadas launched IOH, a new brand that it defines as ‘multipurpose’, and through which it will seek to adapt to the travel needs of different profiles, whose habits have been modified by the COVID-19 pandemic. With Mérida as the starting point, the company plans to open up to 12 brand complexes by 2025.
The first complex of Posadas’ new commitment, IOH Mérida Mid Center, has 136 rooms and began operations on April 1. The hotel offers rooms for three different profiles: Work Style Room, with tools for corporate travelers; Relax Style Room, with elements for the travel habits of vacationers, mainly; and Play Style Room, based on offering an entertainment offer that incorporates smart speakers and even video game consoles.
Adrián Correa, director of the Midscale and Economy brands of Grupo Posadas, explains that although the company worked on building this brand before the pandemic, it also adapts to travel habits triggered by the health contingency, which led to a Greater flexibility in remote and hybrid work schemes.
“Having a multipurpose brand means adapting to any traveler, be it business, leisure or pleasure, the group part, etc. With this concept we adapt to the new times of travellers”, he says in an interview.
For the expansion of IOH, Posadas has outlined a strategy to open 12 complexes in the next three years in strategic markets, including cities such as Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey and Tijuana, among others. The standard will be complexes of 130 to 180 rooms.
With this new brand, the company seeks to grow in the medium-scale and economic segment ( currently made up of Fiesta Inn, Gamma and One), which at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021 had occupancies of 58% -when the balance point is indices of 65%, according to the company – and average rates of 1,020 pesos per night.
In terms of occupations, this dynamism is equivalent to the exclusive and luxury segment, which closed the period with similar rates. However, it maintains a gap in the category with the greatest recovery: resorts , which closed last year with 74% occupancy.
Posadas’ first IOH complex also seeks to be a starting point in terms of customization and technology.
In this area, Daumas affirms that guests will be able to access different technological solutions such as check-in kiosks, similar to those in some airports, in addition to interacting with the hotel through WhatsApp before, during and after their arrival.
“This new product fills a need for our travelers to be able to combine different travel reasons. We know that a destination like Mérida is perfect for this type of trip, where you can go, try gastronomy, go for pleasure and have meetings in public areas,” he said.
