Minor Hotels Unveils New Digital&Driven Masterbrand Strategy

Minor Hotels’ guest-facing pivot, supported by a new brand identity, enhanced digital experience, and simplified loyalty and B2B propositions, fuels strategic growth

Minor Hotels has unveiled its evolution into a guest-facing masterbrand and reinforced its commitment to creating innovative and insightful hospitality experiences that deliver what matters most to its guests.

The brand refresh marks a significant milestone for the global hospitality group as it paves the way to add nearly 300 properties to its portfolio by the end of 2027. It also follows the 2018 acquisition of NH Hotel Group, now operating as Minor Hotels Europe & Americas, which tripled the group’s global footprint.

Ian Di Tullio, Chief Commercial Officer of Minor Hotels, commented: “The reimagined Minor Hotels brand represents more than just a new identity. Our value-driven evolution, powered by enhanced digital platforms, a streamlined loyalty program, and a strong distribution strategy, reflects our ambition to deliver extraordinary hospitality experiences to our guests and be the partner of choice for owners and investors. By uniting our brands under the Minor Hotels masterbrand, we’re excited to enter a new era of growth where Minor Hotels will resonate as powerfully with travellers as it already does with our partners.”

The guiding principle behind the brand evolution is to deliver what matters most to guests, team members, investors, owners and partners. Minor Hotels’ new masterbrand strategy brings its eight hotel brands – Anantara, Avani, Elewana Collection, NH, NH Collection, nhow, Oaks and Tivoli – and travel experience brands together under the Minor Hotels banner, highlighting the group’s offerings and solidifying Minor Hotels’ perception among its stakeholders.

New brand identity

The first thing guests will notice is Minor Hotels’ fresh new look. The arrowhead within the ‘M’ of the Minor Hotels logo represents direction and guidance, pointing the way to discovery, connection and adventure, and reflects Minor’s role in shaping meaningful guest journeys.The visual identity is completed with a refreshed colour palette, signature brand fonts and eye-catching photography. The new brand essence – What Matters Most – and voice will share Minor Hotels’ stories in tune with the needs and desires of today’s consumers, stakeholders and team members.

Guests will interact with the Minor Hotels brand through all consumer touchpoints, starting with digital and mobile platforms and other changes involving marketing and sales channels and at Minor Hotels’ properties. They can also expect to see Minor Hotels more frequently and prominently through multi-brand communications and advertising, utilising the power of its hotel brands to drive awareness of the umbrella brand.

Minor Hotels’ hotel brands, each with a unique character and offering, will retain their brand identity, websites and marketing. They will also benefit from the development of the overarching Minor Hotels brand, done in tandem with the hotel brands. Coinciding with the Minor Hotels rebrand, the group has updated its brand architecture to categorise its hotel brands into three segments – Luxury, Premium and Select – to guide guests’ decisions on selecting the right brand for their travel needs. The group also plans to expand its hotel brand portfolio to fulfil guest and owner needs, with at least two additional brands launching later this year.

Upgraded digital experience

The group has relaunched minorhotels.com as a consumer site, shifting its focus from a corporate and development-centric site. For the first time, guests can book any of Minor Hotels’ over 560 properties on one Minor Hotels website as well as find destination information.

Minor Hotels has also launched a new mobile app, creating a single go-to app for all its brands and moving away from hotel brand-specific apps. Travellers can use the Minor Hotels app to book stays, manage bookings and gather destination information. During their stay, guests can enhance their experience by using the app to interact with hotel team members and request services.

The group will continuously increase functionality and personalisation on minorhotels.com and the Minor Hotels app, including integration of the group’s restaurants and spa and wellness offerings, drawing from user preferences and incorporating guest feedback.

Simplified loyalty programme under Minor DISCOVERY

Minor Hotels will continue to recognise its guests through the Global Hotel Alliance’s (GHA) loyalty programme, GHA DISCOVERY, under a new name: Minor DISCOVERY. Minor DISCOVERY will replace hotel brand-specific monikers – Anantara DISCOVERY, Avani DISCOVERY, NH DISCOVERY, Oaks DISCOVERY, Elewana DISCOVERY, Tivoli DISCOVERY – to streamline member access to one of the most transparent and rewarding hotel loyalty programmes. Rewards and benefits for members of Minor DISCOVERY are unchanged, including earning 4-7% back in DISCOVERY DOLLARS (D$1=US$1), exclusive member rates, live local offers, and elite perks all conveniently accessible within the app.

To mark the new programme’s launch, new Minor DISCOVERY members can unlock $100 in DISCOVERY DOLLARS by completing two stays at Minor Hotels properties. To enrol and learn more about the promotion, members can visit minorhotels.com.

Refreshed B2B customer proposition

Businesses, professionals, event planners and travel agents will have a dedicated space in the newly created Minor PRO. The programme encompasses all the products, services and communications for B2B audiences, including existing programmes under hotel brand-specific names, such as NH PRO, Anantara Journeys and Oaks Professionals. Minor PRO will offer its professional customers solutions that meet their needs.

Dillip Rajakarier, Group CEO of Minor International, added: “The Minor Hotels rebrand is a natural progression for us, building on a success story spanning more than five decades. It isn’t just about driving revenue and profitability; it’s also about harnessing the strength of our diversity, our knowledge and team members to achieve long-term sustainable growth and invest in the guest experience. Unifying all our hotel brands and travel experiences under the Minor Hotels umbrella will help us strengthen our positioning in the hospitality industry and help us deliver on our growth ambitions.”

The brand refresh is the most comprehensive evolution of Minor Hotels in the company’s history. Minor Hotels’ origins trace back to 1978 when founder William E. Heinecke purchased the Royal Garden Resort in Pattaya, Thailand. Since then, Minor Hotels has become one of the largest global hospitality players with over 560 properties in 58 countries, driven by the expansion of the home-grown luxury Anantara and premium lifestyle Avani brands, and the acquisition of the Elewana Collection, Oaks, Tivoli and NH Hotel Group’s NH, NH Collection and nhow brands.