At its first brand conference since 2019, held at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Choice Hotels International offered an update on how the company has returned from the pandemic.
“It is fantastic to be back together,” said Pat Pacious, president/CEO, Choice Hotels. “It has been three years since we’ve had convention, so this is truly exciting for us…We’re at 5,200 attendees, and from an owner and franchisee perspective, it’s higher than it was in 2019. So, we know that our owners are dying to get back together with us and hear what the company is doing in the future.”
Pat Pacious, president/CEO, Choice Hotels, addressed the audience at the company’s first in-person brand conference since 2019.
Pacious reported that the company did better than its competitors during the pandemic and beyond. “Choice was the best performing hotel company during the pandemic,” he said. “Last year, we exceeded the industry’s overall RevPAR by 19%…In every one of the segments we compete in, we are beating the segment averages as well. Performance-wise, our brands did very well during the pandemic and are doing very well as we are on the other side.”
The company was the first in the industry to beat its 2019 performance levels, according to the CEO. “We started doing that last year,” he noted. “As we got to the fourth quarter, we were at 14% higher RevPAR versus the fourth quarter of 2019. So, the post-pandemic performance of this company is much better than where we were even before the pandemic began.”
He cited a number of reasons for that performance. “Guests want limited-service,” he said. “They want leisure travel and they want longer lengths of stays. Those are where our brands play. We have been a key investor in those segments for years. During the pandemic, we invested in those segments.”
Pacious pointed to the launch of Everhome Suites in the extended-stay segment and a new prototype for Comfort Inn, adding, “We invested in our Cambria brand to take that brand into more secondary and leisure destination markets. The investments that the company has made on the brand side have really been driven to meet those trends.”
HERtels by Choice
The company also introduced HERtels by Choice, a program designed to provide dedicated training, education, mentorship and financial assistance to advance and empower women entrepreneurs and ensure they thrive as franchisees of the company.
“For any entrepreneur, starting a new business can be a daunting, capital-intensive endeavor, but the fact remains that compared to their male counterparts, women face drastically different lending terms and conditions,” said Pacious. “We know there are many women entrepreneurs who are eager to break into the rewarding hotel industry yet lack the financing, connections or knowledge to do so, which is why we are proud to build on our industry-leading emerging markets development program with this initiative.”
Janis Cannon, SVP, upscale brands, gave an update on Choice’s soft brand at the Ascend Hotel Collection brand session.
According to the 2022 Women in Hospitality Industry Leadership Report from the Castell Project, for every nine men, there is only one woman who enters into hotel investment and development across the hospitality industry. HERtels by Choice actively seeks to change this discrepancy by addressing the most common barriers women entrepreneurs face when owning and operating a hotel, the company reports.
The HERtels by Choice program leverages a multi-faceted approach and turnkey solutions to advance and empower women hotel ownership: In-house financing support: In addition to enhanced financing incentives, the program provides prospective hoteliers access to designated Choice Hotels associates who work individually with entrepreneurs to help them strengthen their application package, facilitate the lending process and educate them on equitable financing terms.
Dedicated training and education: Upon joining the Choice Hotels system, HERtels by Choice franchisees automatically gain access to the company’s Choice University learning platform, as well as program-specific trainings designed to optimize their onboarding and operating journey.
Personalized mentoring and networking: Acknowledging a common obstacle to first-time hotel ownership is a lack of industry connections, the program provides prospective owners with access to executive coaching from industry veterans and connects the next generation of hoteliers with current Choice owners to leverage best practices and build confidence.
Since last March, as part of a focused effort to increase female ownership—and subsequently lay the groundwork for the HERtels by Choice program—the company has awarded 25 contracts specifically to women entrepreneurs.
“The central tenets of the HERtels by Choice program—connecting and empowering—are not new to Choice,” said John Lancaster, VP, emerging markets, franchise development and owner relations, Choice Hotels. “For decades, we’ve helped deserving, growth-minded entrepreneurs enter the rewarding business of hotel ownership with industry-leading tools, support and resources. HERtels by Choice represents an important next step in our mission to fuel a diverse owner base and small business success. Whether a seasoned hotel general manager wanting to take her career to a new level or an existing business owner looking to shift into hospitality for the first time, Choice Hotels is proud to support the next generation of women owners through this expanded program.”
In addition to HERtels by Choice, the company continues to foster female hotel ownership through sponsorships and support at women-focused conferences on hotel ownership, including She Has a Deal, an education and investment platform for aspiring women hotel investors and developers; Fortuna’s Table, an online community for diverse potential hotel owners to learn, inspire, network, plan and collaborate on the path to hotel investment and ownership; and the Black Girls in Real Estate Conference.
