Hospitality International Bringing Reason To Franchisor/Franchisee Relationships… For A Change

TUCKER, GA— The nature of the relationships franchisors build with their franchisees is changing, and Hospitality International (HI)— for one— has reconfirmed its commitment to such change… for the better. As offered by Betsy Brown, president of the 20-year-old, multi-brand hotel company: “I’ve long believed the franchisor/franchisee relationship should be a compatible partnership. Stressing that aspect, we’re determined to be as accommodating as possible in dealings with our franchisees,” Brown said. To this end, Brown explained this accommodation entails a greater degree of flexibility when it comes to on-site property requirements. However, she emphasized such a stance does not obviate strict adherence to mandated brand standards. “The end result,” Brown told HOTEL BUSINESS®, “has been the continued growth of our system, with 251 properties up-and-running and another 14 well along in the pipeline.” Moreover, HI’s more-flexible/more-accessible approach is apparently winning a considerable number of converts, as demonstrated by the fact the organization’s rolls have been growing— at about a 10% rate year-over-year— far more through conversions than via the new-build route. What’s more, Brown contended the company’s overall franchisee-satisfaction level is similarly evidenced by an annual location non-retention rate of between 7% and 11%. Overseeing properties operating under the Scottish Inns, Red Carpet Inn, Master Hosts Inns, Downtowner Inns and Passport Inn flags, Brown pointed out change has come to her organization’s ranks in a number of ways. For instance, over the years, she has seen the length of a franchisee’s contractual commitment shrink inexorably, going from a 20-year sign-up to 10 years and— at this time— reduced by half again, to five-year increments. A considerably more recent change put into play by Brown and her associates has been the outsourcing of the organization’s reservations service. “In direct response to our franchisees’ reservations help requests, in January of 2002 we retained InnLink Central Reservation System to handle our booking business.” As she explained: “When we were handling reservations ourselves, we only had voice capability. Now we take full advantage of all electronic reservations modes.” She added this changeover has obviously paid benefits, with the organization posting a systemwide reservations increase of between 130% and 150% since the outsourcing. But, perhaps echoing the refrain of “the more things change, the more they stay the same,” Brown noted not everything under the HI banner is in a state of flux. “One of the hallmarks of our operation, as I see it, is the veteran status and length of company service of our executives and employees. “In many ways,” the HI president contended, “we’re like a family… and not a very big one at that [at the corporate level]. We only have about 20 people on staff, and many [of us]have been with the company for 15 years or more.” Finally, toss the firm’s franchisees into the mix and, as Brown suggests, HI becomes a somewhat more extended family. But that feeling of “fitting in” still applies, she said, noting that even in those rather rare occasions when a franchisee (or employee) leave the HI ranks, it’s not unusual to see them ultimately return to the fold at some point down the road. In something of an ironic twist, Brown told HOTEL BUSINESS® it can sometimes be tougher to get former “family members” to let go than it is to hold onto them. Specifically, this anomaly has been most evident as a source of some legal wrangling by the company, what with a franchisee no longer part of the system continuing to fly one of the (HI brand) flags, thereby necessitating action to combat trademark infringement.