Comfort Inn 2009 Annual Report Download - page 4

4 | 2009 Annual Review
2009
Choice Hotels exhibited the
tremendous strength and
resiliency of its business
model during 2009 — one
of the most economically
challenging periods in
lodging industry history.
The limited availability of
credit significantly constrained
hotel development for both
new and conversion projects,
and hotel owners faced a
dramatic loss of revenue as leisure and business
travelers cut back on travel to reduce expenses.
Throughout 2009, the operating environment for
hotels was incredibly challenging. For hotel own-
ers, the steep occupancy and average daily rate
declines led to one of the worst years in decades
for Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR), with
industry-wide RevPAR declining 16.7% according
to Smith Travel Research. However, Choice Hotels,
with a business model that is less leveraged to
RevPAR than other lodging companies and a
range of value-oriented brands, saw RevPAR
declines of 14.4%. Choice’s brands outperformed
their primary mid-scale and economy chain
competitors on RevPAR Index by 20 basis points.
In the face of this historically challenging envi-
ronment, we continued to build on our strong
track record of global franchise system growth,
leveraging our leadership position as a hotel
distribution company with brands that offer
tremendous value to consumers and
opportunities to hotel developers.
As a result, Choice Hotels demonstrated the
power of its fee-based business model over the
past year with achievements that included:
• Openingour6,000thfranchisedhotel,the
359-room Inn of Chicago Magnificent Mile,
an Ascend Collection hotel.
• Achieving4.0%and3.9%netdomesticunit
and room growth, respectively, once again
outpacing industry supply growth.
• Increasingmarketshare20basispointsto
9.6% of branded domestic hotels online as of
December 31, 2009, as measured by Smith
Travel Research.
• Addingapproximatelytwomillionnew
members to our Choice Privileges rewards
program, doubling the pace of new
membership enrollments over 2008.
• Opening442newdomestichotels.
• Launchingfree-of-chargeStreetwiseTacticsfor
Tough Times workshops for franchisees, local
market workshops where owners and operators
shared best practices to drive revenues.
• Maximizingvalueforshareholdersby
returning over $100 million in dividends
and share repurchases.
• Introducingacompletelyredesigned
ChoiceHotels.com, which features
streamlined booking and hotel selection
options designed to improve the online
experience and deliver more reservations to
Choice Hotels franchisees.
Stephen P. Joyce, President & CEOStephen P. Joyce, President & CEO
Letter from the President & CEO