WINDSOR – Vignette Collection is writing the next chapter in its ‘A Means For Good’ story through a global partnership with the World Literacy Foundation. Announced today, IHG’s fast-growing collection brand will directly support the foundation’s mission to eradicate illiteracy by 2040. Meaningful initiatives hosted in the neighbourhoods of Vignette Collection hotels including pop-up libraries and literacy programs will champion change within the communities of the hotel’s localities and around the world. The partnership comes as a direct response to increased consumer consciousness about traveling responsibly as 82% say it is important to choose a hotel brand that operates responsibly1.

Each Vignette Collection property is a unique story to be told but they come together as a library of hotels, united by a collective vision to harness travel’s ability to benefit people and place. Vignette Collection’s collaboration with the World Literacy Foundation will cement the brand’s ‘A Means For Good’ hallmark which sees each hotel partner with a chosen organization to spearhead positive contributions to the local ecosystem. The brand’s global partnership will further this philanthropic outlook by uniting its fast-growing family of 20 hotels found in 12 countries behind the collective cause to combat illiteracy. In just three-years, Vignette Collection has grown to 55 open and pipeline hotels, representing a family of unique properties each offering one-of-a-kind stays in destinations to remember.

Tom Rowntree, Vice President of Luxury & Lifestyle Brands at IHG Hotels & Resorts, said: Vignette Collection’s commitment to aid the remarkable work of the World Literacy Foundation is about giving people the tools to help reach their full potential. Our aim is to support those in the communities of our hotels to access vital education to broaden their horizons and reach their full potential.

The World Literacy Foundation works to lift young people out of poverty through literacy. Founded in Australia in 2003 – a founding footprint shared with the very first Vignette Collection, Hotel X Brisbane Fortitude Valley – the World Literacy Foundation operates in 50 countries globally on the principle that education is a basic human right.

Andy Kay, CEO and Founder of The World Literacy Foundation, said: Reading is a right and a skill so many of us take for granted. Yet still there are more than 754 million people struggling with illiteracy. This is our first hotel partnership and marks an important step in raising awareness of the education epidemic that is limiting so many. Last year, we reached 180 million people with information about the importance of reading. Now, with the platform provided by Vignette Collection’s growing family of hotels, we will reach many more communities who need them most in our pursuit to end illiteracy by 2040.

Vignette Collection’s donation to the World Literacy Foundation will fund pop-up libraries. The first of which will take place later this year in Kuwait City, Lisbon and Brisbane, within the neighborhoods of Arabella Beach Hotel Kuwait, Convent Square Lisbon, and Hotel X Brisbane Fortitude Valley respectively. Literacy support programs providing free access to quality education materials and innovative solutions that target wide-scale illiteracy will also benefit a school in Liverpool near The Halyard Liverpool and a hospital in Washington, D.C., near Yours Truly DC. Vignette Collection has also pledged further funds to support the World Literacy Foundation’s aid initiatives in conflict impacted communities in Columbia.

Vignette Collection’s alliance with the World Literacy Foundation strives to shape the future of responsible travel, guided by IHG’s purpose to provide True Hospitality for Good and in line with its Journey To Tomorrow responsible business commitment to improve the lives of 30 million people around the world.

Vignette Collection is IHG’s first collection brand and represents a curation of distinct hotels demonstrating diversity and discovery. Three years since its launch, Vignette Collection has surpassed 50 open and pipeline hotels globally, with 20 properties open and 35 properties in the pipeline. Part of IHG’s leading luxury and lifestyle portfolio – one of the world’s largest – it offers a compelling way for owners of one-of-a-kind hotels to benefit from IHG’s powerful enterprise offering and global scale, whilst enabling guests to discover intriguing individual properties that unlock IHG One Rewards benefits.

Strategic acquisitions and new brand launches over the past five years have transformed IHG’s presence in luxury & lifestyle. In this time, the portfolio has expanded from one to six brands, spanning more than 500 properties in over 70 countries, making IHG’s collection one of the largest in the world.

1 Data revealed by a global study commissioned by IHG of around 9,000 adults