LAS VEGAS— Choice Hotels International commenced with the 51st edition of its annual convention here at the MGM Grand today by recognizing that this year’s convention theme, “Becoming the Best,” signifies the fact that the company and its brands are not quite the best in the hotel business yet, but are making significant strides toward that goal. According to Choice Hotels’ president and CEO, Charles Ledsinger, now is the perfect time for the company and its brands to close that gap that exists between Choice and the very top of the hotel world rankings. Ledsinger said that the strong economy, growing travel demand and consumer hunger for lodging will help Choice, in particular, solidify its leading position within the industry. “It is clear that we have the right brands at the right time,” Ledsinger asserted. “That’s important because we have some very strong competition out there that is gearing up for battle.” For Choice to win that battle, Ledsinger explained that the company must focus more intently on guest satisfaction and hotel performance. To that end, he said that the firm has altered its “Value Pyramid,” in such a way that guest satisfaction will be a much larger priority at Choice. “That guest satisfaction element is critical to our future success,” he said. “The increasing demands of travelers and the growing competitive pressures make it more imperative than ever that we keep our guests satisfied and coming back again and again.” Ledsinger also mentioned that brand consistency is also crucial to the future success of Choice, which will achieve that consistency through a clearer demonstration of what the company expects of its franchisees in terms of new services, amenities and operational requirements. Choice will also now become stricter with the enforcement of brand standards and will measure guest satisfaction more seriously. Later on during the opening general session, Ledsinger said that Choice’s latest brand, Cambria Suites, which was officially launched in January, has four contracts for properties in Savannah, GA; Phoenix; Somerset, NJ; and Boise, ID. “Those put us well ahead of our original plan,” he remarked. From a marketing perspective, Wayne Wielgus, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Choice, later explained during the general session that Choice is doing exceedingly well across multiple channels. Some of the highlights include the fact that Choice Privileges membership hit the 3.7-million mark last year, AAA revenue is up 18%, corporate business has jumped 16% and international in-bound business from Choice’s general sales offices across the globe improved 22%. “We were also able to grow our voice call volume and revenue last year,” Wielgus added. “And call volume rose nearly 5%. Also, by enhancing sales training techniques in our call centers, we improved the voice channel conversion rate to more than 40%.” Later on in the first day of the convention during the brand sessions, the Comfort Inn session took center stage not only because of the brand’s ongoing reimaging campaign that Choice executives said is going well, but because of the complaints voiced by franchisees during the question and answer session. The complaints varied in theme; however, the fact that waffles— of all things in this world— were designated as the standard hot food items for the new Comfort Sunshine Breakfast offering was a cause of concern for several owners. Beyond that very specific complaint, most others voiced displeasure over the fact that Comfort Inn does not receive independent brand advertising apart from its eight other sister brands. Franchisees made the point that since the brand generates most of Choice’s revenue, it should receive some compensation for that success in terms of, at the very least, Comfort Inn-focused advertising. The franchisees argued that that kind of advertising would allow Comfort Inn to close the gap on its competitors, Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn Express.
Choice Vice-Chairman/CEO Chuck Ledsinger Jr.