Kemmons Wilson is best known for founding the hotel chain Holiday Inn in the 1950s.
11 Facts About Kemmons Wilson
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Kemmons Wilson was born in Osceola, Arkansas, the only child of Kemmons and Ruby "Doll" Wilson.
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Kemmons Wilson's father was an insurance salesman who died when Kemmons was nine months old.
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Kemmons Wilson died in Memphis on February 12,2003, at the age of 90, and is interred there in Forest Hill Cemetery.
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Kemmons Wilson initially came up with the idea after a family road trip to Washington, DC, during which he was disappointed by the quality of the roadside hotels of that era.
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Kemmons Wilson opened the first Holiday Inn motel in Memphis in 1952, and quickly added others to create an entire hotel chain.
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In 1968, Kemmons Wilson bought Continental Trailways and merged the bus company into Holiday Inn.
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In 1988, Holiday Corporation was purchased by UK-based Bass PLC, followed by the remaining domestic Holiday Inn hotels in 1990, when founder Kemmons Wilson sold his interest, after which the hotel group was known as Holiday Inn Worldwide.
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Kemmons Wilson was the founder of many different kind of companies such as Holiday Inn Records and Orange Lake Country Club.
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Kemmons Wilson was inducted into the Junior Achievement US Business Hall of Fame in 1982.
11.
In 1965, Kemmons Wilson received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.