The Best Western You Don't Know: CEO Interview With BWH Hotels
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Leaders of Travel: Skift C-Suite Series
What are the top trends impacting hotels, airlines, and online bookings? We speak to the executives shaping the future of travel.At the Lodging Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, Larry Cuculic, the CEO of BWH Hotels, leaned forward, his West Point-honed posture softening as he warmed to his subject.
"We're not just a mid-scale brand," he said. "We now have a brand for every guest, a brand for every developer."
The man helming Best Western's parent company is eager to make this point. Cuculic said that BWH Hotels has 18 brands, ranging from premium economy SureStay to lifestyle brand Aiden, luxury soft brand WorldHotels Collection, and even branded residences.
The group has 4,300 hotels in 100 countries. Last year, its global reservation enterprise produced $8.2 billion in revenue, a 5.6% increase from 2022.
Larry Cuculic, President and CEO of BWH Hotels, at a customer conference. Source: BWH Hotels. Rare StructureWhat truly sets BWH Hotels apart is its business model. Unlike publicly traded behemoths like Choice, Wyndham, and Hilton, Phoenix-based group operates as a non-profit membership organization. It's like a particularly ambitious co-op board, with hotel owners as voting members.
In 2019, its members voted against going public. They preferred a structure that avoids public shareholder demands.
"We don't have equity
