Choice Hotels Defends Pipeline as It Pushes Wyndham Bid
Photo Caption: The lobby of the Comfort Inn & Suites in Mountain Grove, a prototype for a remodel for the full Comfort brand. Source: Choice Hotels.
Skift Take
Choice Hotels is seeing weakness in its hotel development pipeline. That may not improve much if it remains distracted by pursuing a merger with Wyndham.
Choice Hotels International said the organic growth of its development pipeline is healthy despite claims it has recently relied on growth by acquisitions instead.
"Through our superior speed-to-market conversion processes and best-in-class franchisee support, we are able to move projects quickly through the pipeline," said president and CEO Patrick Pacious during an earnings call on Tuesday.
Choice said its legacy brands in the U.S. that were upscale, extended-stay, and midscale expanded in room count by 1.9%. That figure excluded its economy brands and brands from its recent acquisition of Radisson Americas — which together make up roughly half of its portfolio by property count.
Choice Hotels also said it had opened the prototype for its flagship midscale Comfort brand last month, with 136 projects in the pipeline.
Choice Hotels Pipeline Weakness?Yet some analysts are looking closely at the larger patterns.
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