Choice Hotels Asia-Pac buoyed for the year ahead

The Benson Cairns

Leading hotel franchise group, Choice Hotels Asia-Pac, a wholly owned subsidiary of Choice Hotels International, Inc., experienced a strong rebound following another challenging year of border closures and disrupted recovery. A focus on revenue management, the addition of several new hotels across Australia and New Zealand, and a surge in direct bookings has established a solid foundation for Choice Hotels Asia-Pac’s position in 2022.

Direct online bookings have soared – up 38 per cent on the previous year – and the group experienced market-leading results with Revenue Managed (RM) properties. Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) outperformed its regional competitive set by almost 26 per cent in 2021.

Choice Hotels Asia-Pac’s website traffic also increased in 2021 by 34 per cent, with strong direct conversion growth. Choice Hotels’ award-winning loyalty program – Choice Privileges (CP) – consistently rewarded guests for their stays. CP loyalty stays, which currently represent approximately 20 per cent of Choice Hotels Asia-Pac’s contribution, also experienced significant growth due to the pent-up demand for intra-state holidays and regional destinations where the network of hotels is located.

Trent Fraser, CEO of Choice Hotels Asia-Pac, said “Confidence and consistency across corporate and leisure travel is returning for 2022, especially as the region starts to welcome back international arrivals and corporate traveller numbers continue to rise.”

“We are excited and ready for the return of international tourists, and also strongly support the push to bring overseas students and skilled migrants back into the region to assist with the current staff and skills shortage,” he said.

“Our Corporate Room Nights shows robust growth, with Global Distribution System room night delivery up 17 per cent year-on-year, demonstrating a desire for the return of face-to-face collaboration. We anticipate this trend to grow as we enter a year that is firmly focused on travel and re-booting our economy,” Mr Fraser added.

Choice Hotels Asia-Pac also welcomed a number of property additions to the portfolio including:

• Quality Apartments Adelaide Central and Comfort Hotel Adelaide Meridien in South Australia
• The Beachcomber Ascend Hotel Collection in Toukley, New South Wales
• The Benson Hotel in Cairns, Queensland
• Comfort Apartments Royal Gardens in Melbourne, Victoria
• Quality Suites Central Square in Palmerston North, New Zealand

“I’m feeling optimistic about the year ahead – with or without COVID-19, any new year brings its own set of challenges and opportunities, and the resilience, persistence and leadership demonstrated across our organisation over the last two years has been remarkable.

“This will undoubtedly serve us well and drive us to deliver optimal results for all of our franchisees, welcome back our corporate travelers and provide well-deserved breaks for our customers to make up for lost holiday time over the last two years,” Mr. Fraser said.

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