At its annual conference in Las Vegas, Choice Hotels International joined other hotel giants on Tuesday with its expected announcement of members-only rates when booking direct. The program starts this summer.
“Our Choice Privileges Members Rate will assure guests that they will get the best online price possible when they join Choice Privileges and book direct on ChoiceHotels.com,” said Robert McDowell, chief commercial officer. “At a time when many consumers search dozens of websites during their travel planning process, Choice Hotels is committed to making it easier to find and book the best price for its hotels.”
The move follows a redesign of the Rockville, Maryland, company’s member loyalty program in February that gives members rewards more quickly. During Tuesday annuncement, Pat Pacious, executive vice president and chief operating officer, said that Choice was on track to add more than 4 million new Choice Privileges members by year-end.
As part of that push, the company is redesigning its mobile app to support check-in and check-out, ordering food and two-way communication with hotel staff, Pacious said. Developing a robust mobile presence is intended to support the “drive-to” hotels that make up many of Choice’s brands, whose customers often make booking decisions as they’re driving down the highway.
Pacious urged franchisees to use the company’s digital tools to set rates and manage revenue, which he said is helping hotels that have adopted the technology to earn a nine-to-one return on their investment and lift RevPAR more than 5% above their markets.
Choice CEO Steve Joyce told the crowd that last year more than 53% of revenue was delivered by booking directly with the company.
Joyce also said that while Marriott is distracted for the next two to three years figuring everything out the Starwood merger, Choice will be focusing instead on converting more properties to its brands.
In a roundup of how the brands were doing, Joyce pointed out that over the past several years, 600 Comfort Inn and Comfort Suites hotels were either repositioned or terminated, and Comfort license agreements have increased by 130%. The brands have seen 20 consecutive months of RevPAR index growth. He also touted the Ascend Hotel Collection’s growth and new deals in its Cambria Hotels & Suites in key markets like Times Square in New York, Miami and Chicago.