• by Danielle Oster , March 27, 2025

IHG Hotels & Resorts’ Kimpton brand is offering travelers a more memorable way to mark their stay at the boutique hotel.

The brand, part of IHG’s luxury and lifestyle hotel brand portfolio, is partnering with New York City-based Tiny Zaps – a tattoo studio specializing in tiny tattoos – to offer visitors a little “tattourism” with their stay.

Beginning next month, Tiny Zaps pop-ups at five select Kimpton hotels will offer hotel guests complimentary tiny tattoos from an exclusive “Kimpton x Tiny Zaps” tattoo collection, with designs reflecting the culture of each city featured.

While tattoos commemorating travel experiences aren’t new (it was not uncommon for sailors in past centuries to get tattoos marking the locations which they had sailed to in their travels), the campaign is an attempt to appeal to a modern “tattourism” trend among Gen Z and millennial travelers, who view commemorative tattoos as a “preferred souvenir over traditional keepsakes,” according to the brand.

In one Hostel World survey of American travelers aged 18-35, 38% of young tourists said they got a tattoo while traveling abroad, and a further 42% said they would consider getting one while traveling. Younger travelers are also just more likely to like tattoos in general, with 41% of millennials and 23% of Gen Z adults having at least one tattoo, according to a Statista survey.

“Through our partnership with Tiny Zaps, we're combining travel, art, and self-expression to offer a one-of-a-kind way for people to connect with the cities they visit and have a deep connection with,” Vicki Poulos, head of luxury and lifestyle brands for the Americas and the Kimpton brand globally for IHG Hotels & Resorts, said in a statement.

"People get tattoos for the same reasons they travel – to create and commemorate life experiences," added Tiny Zaps Co-Founder Sam Kelly. “Having unique design collections centered around each city adds a fun, passport stamp-like feature providing travelers with a lifetime of memories.”

The series will kick off with a “Kimpton x Tiny Zaps” event at Kimpton Hotel Monaco in Washington, D.C. on April 5, followed by Kimpton Hotel Fontenot in New Orleans on April 10, Kimpton Aertson Hotel in Nashville, on April 12, Kimpton Theta New York - Times Square on April 18, and Kimpton Everly Hotel in Los Angeles on April 23. There will be subsequent pop-up events at each location for May and July.

It’s hardly the first time a brand in the travel space has attempted to tap into the phenomenon. “From mid-tier to boutique and even luxury hotels, tattoos are taking over the lobby, and hoteliers are offering in-house tattoo sessions for guests who are not afraid of the prick of a needle,” according to a Fodor's Travel story published last October – which cited examples including W Hotel Group’s in-house tattoo artists.