Choice Hotels International kicked off its 68th annual convention with a “Next Level” theme at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, highlighting the company’s “strong competitive position” and its plans to help owners and operators capitalize on the growing demand for leisure and business travel.
Patrick Pacious, president/CEO, Choice Hotels, opened the three-day event, telling Choice franchisees, “Together, we have achieved a new level of success and positioned our brands to capture even more of the growing demand for travel in the coming years.”
He added, “Choice is a leader in technology and innovation, brand creation, brand renewal and franchisee retention. And when we look to the future, we see a portfolio of brands that are getting stronger together: By investing in upscale, we have become the challenger brands to watch. By being good stewards of our core brands, we are driving our midscale performance. And by innovating from the front, we will continue our leadership position in extended-stay.”
Pacious said that, in the last five years, direct online revenue grew by 23% and revenue per property increased 13% during the same time period. Additionally, the number of Choice Privileges members grew from 40 million to 65 million (as of the end of Q1 2024). He also highlighted Choice’s accelerating growth in 2023, including:
- Increasing likelihood to recommend scores on average by 13 points across all brands
- Deploying its conversion capabilities to execute 135 conversion openings
- Harnessing the integration of Radisson Hotels Americas to improve digital traffic and bookings and lower OTA fees for hotels in its system
- Signing an agreement with AAA to be the first new Preferred Hotel Supplier in a decade
Choice reported that it is making strategic investments for its future to increase revenue for hotel owners and operators. Its global group sales team, in the 12 months following the integration of the Radisson Americas global sales team in October 2022, drove nearly $100 million in incremental gross room revenue for hotels across the Choice system.
The company also highlighted its efforts to transform its Choice Privileges rewards program, from transactional to experiential, to “build an emotional connection between guests and its brands.” This includes a new agreement to sponsor Trackhouse Racing for the 2024 NASCAR Cup season and offer exclusive access to members. Additionally, the company is investing in refreshing its digital platforms, unveiling a new look for choicehotels.com later this year that’s tailored to highlight each brand and feature richer imagery and content.
“We are focused on being a long-term value-creator for all of you—the owners of Choice-branded hotels,” said Pacious. “When I look at how far we’ve progressed together, I’ve never been more optimistic about the future.”
Look for more coverage of the Choice convention in the June issue of Hotel Business.
