Choice Hotels International, Inc., one of the world’s largest lodging franchisors, has officially opened its 69th Annual Convention in Las Vegas this week.
In case you weren’t aware, the stated event brings together thousands of owners, operators, and industry partners for nearly 100 educational sessions, a trade show where owners can connect with hundreds of qualified vendors, and brand sessions to hear from Choice leaders regarding recent performance success and where the company is investing to help drive revenue and lower costs.
More on the last bit would reveal how Choice took this opportunity to reveal a rise in its resilient and higher income customers, including more business travelers who now represent 40% of all stays. Furthermore, the company’s upscale and above brand portfolio grew rooms by 44% last year, and with more than 7,500 hotels worldwide, the company is leveraging its growing size to strengthen value for owners. This includes helping them increase revenue opportunities, reduce operating costs, and fuel long-term business success.
Taking an even deeper view of Choice’s performance in recent times, we begin from how the company’s loyalty membership has surged past 70 million, with members booking directly more often, staying longer, and spending more. The revamped program’s enhancements, including longer booking windows, premium room redemptions, and exclusive experiences, have also driven a 30% increase in redemptions and 13% growth in average length of stay.
Next up, we must dig into how Choice has witnessed a 6% year-over-year increase in converting lookers into direct bookers as a result of the ChoiceHotels.com refresh. The upscale online booking conversion also went up more than 14% in the first quarter of 2025.
The company’s Area Directors further helped owners generate over $25 million in potential operational cost savings last year, delivering an average of $33,000 per participating property.
Another detail worth a mention is rooted in how Choice’s newly-introduced food group purchasing program achieved an average savings of 9% in food costs, a number based on market-basket comparisons since the program launched in July 2024 to March 2025.
In 2024, hotels that used ChoiceROCS, a consultancy program designed to help drive increased revenue by leveraging functional expertise and advanced data analytics, went on to a experience a 100-basis-point premium in RevPAR Index versus hotels not using the program. ChoiceROCS drove, in totality, more than $81 million in incremental revenue to participating properties.
These breakthroughs also build upon Choice’s decision to introduce a comprehensive initiative last year, an initiative which focused on developing a suite of cutting-edge, complementary and needle-moving capabilities, set to be delivered over the next two years.
The stated capabilities revolve around four key areas, starting from the company’s bid to empower franchisees across all segments in the context of managing rates with greater flexibility. Alongside that, they look to drive more occupancy from small-to-mid-sized companies by making it easier to do business through a self-serve platform, with no new increased labor costs for hotels.
The aim here is also to attract and retain new and existing guests through enhanced, AI-ready digital marketing mechanisms that enable delivery of personalized messages to drive the right customers to hotels.
Complementing this would be the availability of an AI-infused, streamlined group travel system which can come in handy to help franchisees identify the optimal opportunity and respond to requests for proposals.
