Gowalla users: When you step inside a Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo or other hotels that belong to IHG and "check in" on Gowalla, you'll receive a note about how you can benefit from InterContinental Hotels Group's "Hit it Big" loyalty promotion - IHG's biggest of the year.  For the rest of us: IHG today will become the first major hotel operator to launch a full campaign across all brands using Gowalla, the increasingly popular location-based social network that lets people tell others where they are via their GPS-enabled smart phone.  Using Gowalla is such a new experiment for IHG that IHG exec Del Ross told me yesterday that he doesn't even have an estimate of how many loyal guests are using Gowalla. Still, given Austin-based Gowalla's growing popularity and IHG's need to get its message out to mobile users, he thinks it's worth a try.  "This is pretty cool, and we're not sure what it's going to produce, but the best way to find out is to do it," Ross told me over the phone yesterday.  IHG's experiment plays into the growing trend among mostly younger, GPS-enabled smart-phone users to share their location with others who use location-based networks such as Gowalla, Four Square or Loopt.  While individual hotels have given offers to users who "check-in" via Gowalla, IHG says it's the first large hotel company to launch a full campaign that incorporates Gowalla across its eight brands.  So how will it work?  Now through June 30, IHG-brand hotel guests who "check in" on Gowalla will receive a note about how they can benefit from the "Hit it Big" campaign - or it will prompt them to register if they hadn't done so already.  IHG's Hit it Big promo gives guests a choice of rewards starting with the second weekend stay at an IHG hotel between now and Aug. 31. The choices are:  So why incorporate a mobile device?  "It is our biggest national promotion of the year and we are running it all over the place. We don't assume everyone knows this," Ross told me. Using Gowalla is IHG's way of reminding or informing people about the promo "in an unobtrusive way."  Ross also expects that by making these customers more aware of IHG's promotion, which encourages stays, it gives them more reasons to look for one of IHG's signs for their next stay.  It will be interesting to see how and when Marriott, Hilton, Starwood, Hyatt and other hotel operators follow.  Readers: Comments? I'd especially like to hear from those of you how use Gowalla or Four Square. Will you welcome this sort of message from IHG?  To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor  . For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to  . Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to
InterContinental Hotels Group bets on Gowalla for major summer promo - Hotel Check-in: A road warrior's guide to the lodging landscape - USATODAY.com