Choice Hotels International Inc. has revealed that it had higher-than-expected brand growth across its revenue-intense segments in 2023.
Choice drove a 1.4% increase in the number of hotels in its domestic upscale, midscale and extended stay brands in 2023—a year in which it also completed integration of the Radisson Hotels Americas brands. Growth of the Choice legacy brands represented a nearly 2% increase in the number of domestic properties within these revenue-intensive segments. Additionally, Choice grew the number of hotels in its international portfolio by 2.6%.
“2023 was a transformative year of growth for Choice, and we are going to take the tremendous value our brands offer travelers across all market segments to the next level in 2024,” said Pat Pacious, president/CEO, Choice Hotels. “We’re also laser-focused on driving Choice franchisees’ costs down and increasing their revenues, resulting in higher profitability and a greater ability to compete in a robust marketplace. We’re proud to have an industry-leading voluntary retention rate of 98%, which shows that our hotel owners and operators know the value of the Choice business delivery engine. In the year to come, we will leverage this engine to help drive the value of their businesses even higher.”
Choice opened a total of 61 extended-stay hotels in 2023—a single-year record for the company. Suburban Studios opened 25 hotels, a single-year record for the brand, including its 100th property, in Bloomington, MN, in December. WoodSpring Suites opened 24 new hotels, also a single-year record. Everhome Suites, Choice’s all-new-construction extended stay-offering, expanded its pipeline to 66 properties, with a total of 16 hotels under construction.
The company continued its growth in the upscale segment in 2023 with the opening of 19 properties in its Ascend Hotel Collection, a global portfolio of independent resort, historic and boutique hotels. The company’s migration of the Radisson Americas hotels onto its central reservation system in July, less than a year after the acquisition, helped drive a more than 8% year-over-year increase in RevPAR for the Radisson upscale brand.
Cambria Hotels grew its portfolio to 74 properties, with nine new hotels opened in 2023 in markets such as Nashville, Austin and Burbank, CA.
In 2023, Choice also focused on ensuring the continued growth of its core brand offerings. Comfort opened 33 new hotels, the most in a single year since 2019, including the first new-construction, Rise & Shine-prototype Comfort hotel in Mountain Grove, MO. Additionally, the Quality Inn brand had 35 openings and awarded 64 franchise agreements. The company also debuted a next-generation, design-forward Sleep Inn prototype that includes expanded wellness offerings, modernized guestrooms, open lobbies, new and improved breakfast areas and designated outdoor spaces.
New properties added to the Econo Lodge and Rodeway Inn brands last year generated more revenue, on average, than properties that exited the brands, further validating Choice’s successful revenue-intense unit growth strategy within each brand, the company reports.
The digital migration of the Radisson Americas brands drove increases in total digital traffic, bookings and booked revenue as compared to pre-migration Choice and Radisson Americas websites and apps, combined. Year-over-year, from August through November 2023, digital bookings were up 26% for the legacy Radisson Americas brands, including a 36% increase for the Country Inn & Suites brand.
In December, Choice awarded 10 new franchise agreements for the Country Inn & Suites brand, pushing the total number of agreements in 2023 to 19, the most for the brand in a single year since 2016. Choice also launched a Country Inn & Suites room refresh with a modern and warm aesthetic, including sophisticated finishes and subtle color accents.
The year also proved to be one of Choice’s most successful years for international development as the company expanded its global footprint across multiple markets. Choice extended its master franchise agreement with Strawberry (formerly Nordic Choice Hotels), secured a distribution partnership with the leading Spanish hotel chain Sercotel, signed an agreement with Zenitude Hotel-Residences that will double Choice’s unit footprint in France—adding 33 properties in 2024 and 2025—and acquired the franchise rights for City Edge Apartment Hotels in Australia. The company also fully integrated Radisson Americas hotels in the Caribbean, Canada and Latin America in 2023 and is focused on driving the growth of the legacy Radisson Americas brands in those regions in the year to come.
