Holiday Inn founded the first franchised hotel chain in the United States, according to the company’s history.
Kemmons Wilson opened the first Holiday Inn in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1952. He designed the roadside hotel around predictable standards for families traveling by car, including clean rooms, reliable facilities, and consistent pricing. The concept addressed the uneven quality Wilson had encountered on a family trip.
Holiday Inn expanded quickly by using franchising. Independent hotel owners could operate under the Holiday Inn name while following brand requirements intended to make the guest experience recognizable from one location to another. This helped create a national roadside lodging network during the growth of automobile travel.
Holiday Inn is often confused with the first hotel of another major chain, such as Marriott or Hilton. The question concerns the first franchised hotel chain, not the oldest hotel company or the opening date of a particular competitor.