Minor masterbrand pivot unifies 8 brands

BANGKOK – Minor Hotels is moving its corporate brand to the forefront by creating a guest-facing umbrella “masterbrand” that will see its eight brand concepts finally unite under distribution, loyalty and digital experiences.

Bangkok-based Minor, today with more than 560 properties, said milestone refresh comes as it plans to add 300 hotels to its portfolio by the end of 2027 and add two new brands by the end of this year. Just last month, Minor announced it is partnering with Tokyo Stock Exchange-list Royal Holdings to develop and operate 21 hotels in Japan by 2035 under three Minor brands: Anantara, Avani, and Tivoli.

Chief Commercial Officer Ian Di Tullio said Minor, which has ownership stakes in about 70% its portfolio, is looking for most of the new growth to come from management agreements and franchising. In addition, Minor Founder and Chairman Bill Heinecke was recently quoted as saying the company will announce its first flagship brand Anantara property in the U.S. next year. 

In February, Minor announced it had posted its strongest full-year results on record, reporting a 16% jump in net profit to $151 million and a 9% rise in total revenue to $4 billion for 2024. The fourth quarter alone delivered $65 million in profit, marking a 14% year-on-year increase.

Minor Hotels’ new look includes an arrowhead within the ‘M’ of the Minor Hotels logo represents direction and guidance.

Minor Hotels’ new masterbrand strategy brings its eight hotel brands – Anantara, Avani, Elewana Collection, NH, NH Collection, nhow, Oaks and Tivoli – under a new visual identity with a refreshed color palette, signature brand fonts and photography, as well as a new brand essence dubbed, “What Matters Most.”

The group has also updated its brand architecture to categorize its hotel brands into three segments – Luxury, Premium and Select.

“We want our brands – Minor Hotels and our eight hotel brands – to matter more, especially to consumers,” Di Tullio said. “By taking a value-driven evolution, we looked for ways to reduce friction points and increase utility for our guests. The repositioning of Minor Hotels as a consumer-facing brand with a new brand essence, look and feel, purpose and refreshed digital strategy, we will increase connectivity amongst our brands, and an easy way to interact with Minor Hotels. All our stakeholders – guests, team members, investors, and owners, will benefit from greater awareness of our brands.”

Di Tullio added that Minor is now at a size where this investment makes sense to further accelerate growth.

“The NH Hotel Group acquisition, back in 2018, was a critical moment for Minor Hotels, tripling our property count, growing in Europe and the Americas, and adding three hotel brands to our portfolio – NH, NH Collection and nhow,” Di Tullio said. “Before that, Minor Hotels ran a region-specific business where hotel brands had minimal overlap across regions, and our total portfolio was around 150 properties. For instance, you could find Anantara and Avani in Asia and the Middle East, Tivoli in Europe, and the Elewana Collection in Africa. Today, we are cross-developing brands across regions, building global footprints within each brand’s portfolio by bringing Anantara and Avani to Europe and NH and NH Collection to Asia and the Middle East. Our investment in the Minor Hotels umbrella brand will help us build our loyal customer base by providing a seamless experience across our global portfolio.”

More plan details

Minor Hotels’ brands will retain their brand identity, websites and marketing. They will also benefit from the development of the overarching Minor Hotels brand through the relaunch of minorhotels.com as a consumer site, shifting its focus from a corporate and development-centric site. For the first time, guests can book any hotel 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. During their stays, guests can enhance their experience by using the app to interact with hotel team members and request services.

Minor Hotels will continue to recognize its guests through the Global Hotel Alliance’s (GHA) loyalty program, GHA Discovery, under a new name, Minor Discovery, replacing hotel brand-specific monikers.  Rewards and benefits for members of Minor Discovery are unchanged and elite perks all accessible within the app.

Businesses, professionals, event planners and travel agents will have a dedicated space in the newly created Minor PRO. The program encompasses all the products, services and communications for B2B audiences, including existing programs under hotel brand-specific names, such as NH PRO, Anantara Journeys and Oaks Professionals.

Minor International Group CEO Dillip Rajakarier said is a natural progression for the group. “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,” he said. “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.”