ORLANDO, FL—After a year that saw a number of changes at La Quinta Inns & Suites, not the least of which was becoming a public company, some 1,500 attendees at the lodging chain’s annual conference here at the Hilton Orlando were presented a positive performance picture by executives who expect the momentum to continue, driving franchise deals and greater expansion into next year.
Trading for almost a year on the New York Stock Exchange as La Quinta Holdings, Inc., the company showed an 8% increase in systemwide RevPAR and an ADR increase of 4.4% with occupancy hitting 66.8%.
The 47-year-old company also increased its franchised hotels by 8%, opening 45 properties last year (approximately 3,900 rooms), giving the brand 867 hotels—a mix of corporate-owned and franchised—in the chain, representing some 86,000 rooms.
President/CEO Wayne Goldberg said “2014 was a very strong year for La Quinta across the board” for the select-service brand, which is positioned primarily in the mid- to upper-midscale segments.
The expansion on the franchise side will continue this year. The company has inked agreements for 207 hotels representing some 17,000 rooms, including in international markets such as Canada, Columbia, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua.
“We continue to focus our growth in Latin American markets,” said Rajiv Trivedi, chief development officer. “We opened a new location in Mexico and have two new properties under construction. We added locations in two new countries, Nicaragua and Honduras, to our pipeline.”
Noting investing in the company meant more than buying shares in La Quinta stock, Goldberg said over the past two years, some 50% of franchise agreements signed came from existing franchise partners. “You have confidence in La Quinta,” he told the audience of owners, general managers and corporate staff, adding the culture at La Quinta is as much a driver of positive results as anything else.
“A strong, positive culture translates directly to the bottom line,” said the CEO.
—Stefani C. O’Connor
(Editor’s Note: Expanded coverage of the La Quinta annual conference will appear in the April 7 issue of Hotel Business.)