Travel / news
IHG Brand Chief Says Travel Marketers Are Handing Creative Control to Creators
Travel brands are moving away from tightly curated campaigns and heavily produced video, giving content creators more say over how destinations and hotels are presented. IHG's global brands chief told a New York City summit he had to loosen his grip on a brand identity built over more than a decade.
Connor Smith, senior vice president of global brands at IHG, said the shift required him to release control of an identity he spent more than a decade building and protecting across more than 7,000 hotels in the company's 21 brands. That identity is now partly in the hands of outside creators working with iPhones and ring lights.
Speaking on a panel at a creator summit in New York City on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, Smith said he "really had to let go" as the creator's role in marketing grows.
He appeared alongside Alex Zeitz, senior director of global operations, experience, and belonging at Virgin Voyages, and content creator Oneika Raymond. The discussion was moderated by Gordon Smith, airlines editor at the summit's organizer.
The panel pointed to a wider shift across the travel industry, where brands are setting aside curated campaigns and heavily produced videos in favor of giving creators more creative latitude. The calculation behind the change is credibility: travel companies are betting that creator-led content lands with audiences in ways polished brand messaging does not.