Choice Kicks Off Conference

ATLANTA— A look back over the road traveled by Choice Hotels International since Sept. 11 and a look ahead to the chain’s summer promotions took center stage along with keynote speaker former New York City Mayor Rudolph Guiliani at the opening session May 9 of Choice’s 48th Annual Convention being held here. On a bare-bones stage dominated by a screen image of a waving American flag— itself flanked by Choice’s eight brand flags— more than 4,300 attendees in the Georgia World Congress Center listened as president/CEO Charles “Chuck” Ledsinger described the company as “financially strong” despite unspecified declines in RevPAR. “We have a lot to celebrate in how our business has rebounded from last fall’s slump, and it’s still on the way back. Everyone in this room deserves a world of credit for the hard work and initiative shown to keep our system healthy and growing,” said Ledsinger. He expects to stay on track with the company’s stated goals of delivering exceptional services, reaching more consumers and building strong brands, and would now look to leverage the 5,000- property chain’s size, scale and distribution. Janna Morrison, a 15-year Choice veteran who was brought in last year as svp/franchise services, said a streamlining process that consolidated three market area offices over the past few months has truly centralized the management operations, while utilizing best practices from each of the former offices. “We really think we’ve landed on the best business model to really achieve that goal of delivering more consistent service to our hotels,” said Morrison, noting such consistency was found to be a priority in an annual survey of franchisees. In addition, four departments were also transitioned to franchise services, including the field services group, which incorporates field training; property systems; new hotel (and construction) services; and key client services. “The goal was really to deliver integrated services and more consistent services to our hotels,” said Morrison, who added current technology helped with the implementation, putting resources closer at hand. Now, she said, her group is focused on driving revenue at the local level, but shifting focus on the quality assurance review process to be more customer focused. “We’re really confident if we can make our customers happier— the guests who stay at the hotel— then we’ll be able to increase the brand loyalty for our hotels,” thus driving more revenue to the properties, she said. “We’re really at the brink of an exciting time for property systems. For the first time in Choice history, we finally have reached the point of having a single platform for communication. What that’s really going to do for us is allow use to get more involved in targeted marketing and customer relationship management,” said Morrison. Wayne Wielgus, svp/marketing, said efforts are focused on protecting and growing the brands’ leisure share of business and growing business share. “Since Sept. 11, companies are re-looking at their corporate travel policies and I think there’s a good opportunity now as they trade down for Choice brands to really take advantage of that market segment,” said Wielgus. “How we do that is by building brand loyalty in both business and leisure markets.” He noted the current multibrand ad campaign, “The Power of Being There. Go.” supports all the Choice brands and reaches across all market segments. “Our new strategy allows us to maximize ad dollars by reinforcing the core message that no matter where someone travels or why they travel or where they like to stay, Choice offers the right place for them,” said Wielgus. Specifically on the economy side this summer, Wielgus said, beginning June 10, both Econo Lodge and Rodeway Inn would team with Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse and its Nascar race team headed by Jeff Gordon with Jimmie Johnson. They will promote the brands with “Race In. You Could Win,”a scratch-off card game where the grand