Last July, Wyndham Hotel & Resorts unveiled an effort to help Black dealmakers, franchisees, and developers join the club of hotel entrepreneurship. The U.S.-based hotel franchisor updated the media on Wednesday about the U.S. effort, saying it has signed deals for 18 hotels.
Wyndham — which calls its program Bold[Black Owners and Lodging Developers] — highlighted two Black hotel investors as examples.
Twin brothers Dubi and Chuchu Ajukwu, had invested before in residential and commercial real estate as co-managing partners of VANA Partners. But they hadn’t considered investing in hospitality until the Wyndham program.
“Participating in BOLD by Wyndham has not only enabled us to break into competitive markets with immense growth potential but also allowed us to leverage the scale and resources of the world’s largest hotel franchising company,” said Dubi Ajukwu.
The developers wanted a segment with strong long-term growth in markets that most excited them. It helped them identify the extended-stay sector and to set a goal of owning several properties throughout Florida and the Southeastern U.S., with the brothers hoping to break ground on their first hotel, an ECHO Suites Extended Stay by Wyndham brand, in Daytona Beach later this year.