Comfort Inn 2009 Annual Report Download - page 7

2009 Annual Review | 7
Annual Review
Our focus for our extended stay brands, MainStay
Suites and Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, will be
improving property-level performance, particu-
larly extended stay occupancy.
The Ascend Collection network continues to
fill a valuable space within the Choice Hotels
portfolio as a membership program designed
to allow upscale historic, boutique and unique
hotel owners to connect with Choice Hotels and
leverage our robust global distribution system.
In 2010, Choice Hotels plans to aggressively
grow the Ascend Collection’s system size to
capitalize on higher demand from independent
hotels for access to a strong distribution plat-
form in this challenging environment.
The company views international expansion as
a strong driver of our future growth, including
emerging markets where there is a tremendous
need for mid-tier lodging. Choice Hotels will
continue to strengthen its international value
proposition, including improving central reserva-
tions systems delivery and migrating international
Web sites onto a common platform.
We continue to evaluate opportunities to enter
segments in which Choice Hotels does not have a
presence. In coming years, we will focus our new
growth efforts on opportunistically supplement-
ing our existing portfolio, either via acquisition
or new brand creation. Adding brands in higher
chain-scale segments will help us capture a larger
share of business travelers and strengthen the
appeal of our existing brands and our Choice
Privileges rewards program.
Drive Reservations Delivery
to Choice-Brand Hotels
As Choice Hotels increases its distribution
through both core and long-term growth brand
development, the company will continuously
improve its marketing and distribution platform
to drive reservations to its hotels.
Choice Hotels is continuing to invest aggressively
in marketing, eCommerce and reservations efforts.
The company is focused on accelerating growth
in its Choice Privileges rewards program with a
goal of adding 2.5 million additional members in
2010, after a record year of adding approximately
2 million members in 2009. We will look to
achieve this goal via further international
expansion, elite member enhancements
and the addition of new point earning and
redemption partners. The Choice Privileges
program improves hotel performance by
generating incremental business, higher
guest satisfaction, and greater loyalty among
members. The company is also bolstering its
global sales efforts to drive incremental room
demand by taking a more strategic account
management approach to business-to-business
sales worldwide.
We continue to drive more reservations through
our central channels, which deliver higher-profit,
lower-cost reservations over hotel-direct reserva-
tions. We continue to execute our strategy in
this arena, with the primary objectives of driving
guests to central channels, converting shoppers
to bookers, and implementing an infrastructure to
support Central Reservations System growth.