ROCKVILLE, Md. — Choice Hotels International, Inc.’s select-service mid-scale and upper-mid-scale brands saw material year-over-year Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) and Average Daily Rate (ADR) index gains compared to local competitors through the second quarter of 2020.
The company expects this trend to continue as leisure-travel bounces back faster than business travel amid the pandemic environment, with leisure travel now comprising more than 80 per cent of room nights across the Choice Hotels portfolio.
“Our brands connect meaningfully with both guests and hotel developers, especially as they search for brands they know and trust in the current environment,” says Megan Brumagim, vice-president, Brand Management, Design and Compliance, Choice Hotels. “As a proven leader in the mid-scale segment, we’re well-positioned to continue leading the way as travel demand returns and guests look to take shorter trips when they hit the road.”
In addition to attracting more guests in the first half of the year, Choice’s mid-scale and upper-mid-scale brands have had several notable achievements during this time. For example, Comfort hotels that completed renovations as part of the brand’s $2.5-billion systemwide ‘Move-to-Modern’ refresh by the end of 2019 continue to outperform the competition for the fifth-consecutive quarter, with Q2 2020 RevPAR index gains of nearly 16 percentage points compared to their local competitors.
Additionally, Sleep Inn outperformed the mid-scale segment across key metrics with six-per-cent higher RevPAR, 2.5 percentage points, higher occupancy and a higher ADR. Quality Inn has also continued growth, now representing almost 1,700 domestic properties. And, Clarion Pointe — a brand extension of Clarion that launched less than two years ago — surpassed 50 franchise agreements awarded. This year alone, the number of open hotels doubled, with 15 open properties now spanning the U.S.
“Our mid-scale and upper-mid-scale brands’ performance in the first half of the year reaffirms our proven value to guests and hotel owners in any environment,” says Jason Cowan, senior vice-president, Franchise Development, Signature Brands, Choice Hotels. “As a company, we awarded more than 150 franchise agreements over the same period, over 50 per cent of which were in these segments.”
