Best Western’s New Corporate Brand BWH Hotel Group Signals Big Changes
Photo Credit: The Anam Villas in Vietnam, a member of WorldHotels. WorldHotels
Skift Take
BWH Hotel Group? That's Best Western's new corporate identity, the first change in decades and one that is designed to build its new image as a chain that can offer everything from mid-market to luxury.
These days, David Kong carries two cards. One is his usual Best Western Hotels & Resorts card, which he has been using since 2004 as president and CEO of the chain. The other carries a new corporate brand and logo, BWH Hotel Group, that will be used more and more as the months go by.
BWH combines the initials of Best Western and WorldHotels, which Best Western acquired fully a month ago. It is significant not only because it will replace the Best Western corporate identity that has been around since 1966 (although the chain was founded in 1946) but because it marks its evolution from a mid-market player to one that offers, for the first time, upper upscale and luxury segments. That’s thanks to the roughly 300 WorldHotels members and Kong is confident this will double to 600 hotels in just a few years. BWH is a private company and does not disclose its financials.
Until WorldHotels, Kong, who has been leading the transformation for Best Western to offer the full multi-tier
