Comfort Inn 2014 Annual Report Download - page 23

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 23 of the 2014 Comfort Inn annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 144

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104
  • 105
  • 106
  • 107
  • 108
  • 109
  • 110
  • 111
  • 112
  • 113
  • 114
  • 115
  • 116
  • 117
  • 118
  • 119
  • 120
  • 121
  • 122
  • 123
  • 124
  • 125
  • 126
  • 127
  • 128
  • 129
  • 130
  • 131
  • 132
  • 133
  • 134
  • 135
  • 136
  • 137
  • 138
  • 139
  • 140
  • 141
  • 142
  • 143
  • 144

Table of Contents
Impact of Inflation and Other External Factors
Franchise fees can be impacted by external factors including, in particular, the supply of hotel rooms within the lodging industry relative to the demand
for rooms by travelers and inflation.
We expect to benefit in the form of increased franchise fees from future growth in consumer demand for hotel rooms as well as growth in the supply of
hotel rooms, to the extent it does not result in excess lodging industry capacity. However, a prolonged decline in demand for hotel rooms would negatively
impact our business.
Although we believe that increases in the rate of inflation will generally result in comparable increases in hotel room rates, severe inflation could
contribute to a slowing of the national economy. Such a slowdown could result in reduced travel by both business and leisure travelers, potentially resulting
in less demand for hotel rooms, which could result in a reduction in room rates and fewer room reservations, negatively impacting our revenues. A weak
economy could also reduce demand for new hotels, negatively impacting the franchise fees received by us.
Among other unpredictable external factors, which may negatively impact us, are wars, acts of terrorism, airline strikes, gasoline shortages, severe
weather and the risks described below under the Item 1A. Risk Factors.
SkyTouch Technology
SkyTouch TechnologyTM ("SkyTouch") is a division of the Company that develops and markets cloud-based technology products to hoteliers not under
franchise agreements with the Company to improve their efficiency and profitability. The SkyTouch Hotel OS™ solution is based on the Company’s award-
winning, proprietary technology platform, choiceADVANTAGE, that was first introduced over a decade ago to meet the needs of its franchisees. The
SkyTouch Hotel OS solution offers many of the same functions of the choiceADVANTAGE property and rate management platform, including managing
reservations, guest stays and rates on any device with an Internet connection as well as the ability to connect seamlessly with other systems used by chain and
independent hotels. The system has been enhanced to add distribution management services, and offers central reservation system interfaces utilizing hotel
technology next generation specifications for ease of deployment and partnership with other technology providers.
The SkyTouch platform also includes a mobile-native interface that offers fast and secure mobile functionality to the major elements of property
management and housekeeping. The interface includes quick, mobile-friendly views of key operational data such as ADR, Occupancy, Availability for
Tonight, helping improve management efficiency. Housekeeping functionality allows real-time, two-way communication between staff that helps improve
the guest experience. Developed with a responsive design and an adaptable mobile support strategy, the interface is optimized as a true cloud-based
application for smart phones and tablets, while still accessible from desktops.
SkyTouch also provides onsite and remote installation and training, and 24/7/365 phone support to our clients. SkyTouch’s online training includes
simulation-based, highly interactive eLearning modules with the option to modify and create additional content to meet the needs of hoteliers.
The hotel property management system market is highly competitive and we compete on various bases, including product functionality, service
capabilities, price, and geography. We compete with companies that have several hotel related software products, as well as companies that offer a single
product or service aimed at a particular niche. In addition, our products and services compete with room reservation systems developed and marketed by
major hotel chains for their corporate-owned operations and franchisees.
Employees
We employed approximately 1,331 people in our domestic operations as of February 17, 2015. None of our employees are represented by unions or
covered by collective bargaining agreements. We consider our relations with our employees to be good.
23