LAS VEGAS—Some 500 attendees at the annual AmericInn Convention being held here at Bally’s/Paris Las Vegas couldn’t help but feel lucky in this casino-centric town after getting the news from President/CEO Paul Kirwin that 2012 marked a “tremendous year” for the midscale chain, particularly in terms of systemwide revenue.
“We indeed have much to celebrate and be grateful for at AmericInn,” Kirwin told the crowd. “Chainwide RevPAR grew by over 6% boosting systemwide revenue to an all-time high of $195 million. So both brand revenue and individual hotel revenue were up significantly.”
He added brand contribution to hotel revenue “rose to 50% with CRS contribution reaching an all-time high of 32%.”
Tied to this are improvements in guest satisfaction and product scores.
“This is great news since it’s just what we were after when we launched the AmericInn Refresh PIP program two years ago,” said Kirwin.
He noted the brand has plans in motion to act on owners’ requests that the Refresh program tackle improving guest bathrooms. “Throughout 2012 we spent extensive time researching our options, testing renovations at our Chanhassen property and discussing the results with our Owners Advisory Board. In the end we elected to commit the brand to upgrading the vanity areas by 2015 and to progressively renovating the shower and toilet areas through transfer, renewal and QA PIPs,” said the CEO.
The brand also added to its distribution, opening two new-build hotels and three conversions. The chain now has 225 properties open or under development.
Looking ahead, after doing a beta test at 25 of its properties, the brand this May plans to bring TripAdvisor ratings on to property websites along with five reviews. It also will change out its CRS provider in 2014, moving from Travelynx to Trust International.