NATIONAL REPORT—Franchisees from Wyndham Hotel Group’s brands aren’t worried about the departure of the group’s president and CEO.
The company announced 2 September that Steven A. Rudnitsky would leave his position 30 September. Rudnitsky has been with the group since March 2002 when he was hired as CEO of Cendant’s hotel group. When Wyndham Hotel Group separated from Cendant in 2006, he became president and CEO.
Stephen Holmes, Wyndham Worldwide chairman and CEO, will be filling in for Rudnitsky while the company searches for a replacement, according to Betsy O’Rourke, senior VP of marketing and communications for Wyndham Worldwide.
The company currently franchises 6,933 hotels with 580,217 guestrooms worldwide as of 30 June.
According to documents filed with the Securities Exchange Commission on 03 September, Rudnitsky will receive a cash severance of about $2.2 million and any long-term incentive awards that are vested.
Franchisee sentiment seems to be to roll with the punches.
Irwin Prince, president and CEO of Toronto-based Realstar Hospitality, said Rudnitsky did a great job, and he also created a strong bench. Realstar is the master franchisor for Days Inn in Canada.
“(Rudnitsky) brought some vision and discipline,” he said. “Steve Holmes did great job of selecting Steve to fill a position at a time when the company really needed some leadership.”
Does he have any concerns about the interim?
“I met with Steve Holmes yesterday. I’ve known him since 1992, back when the company was HFS,” Prince said. “He’s in control and stepped in as the interim chair. He’s got great vision, and he knows what the company is looking for.”
Tony Mangano, whose family owns the 150-room Ramada Inn in Syracuse, N.Y., said the strength of the company continues.
“They still have Steve Holmes, Tony Burger (COO), Keith Pierce (group president for AmeriHost, Baymont, Knights Inn and Ramada)—they still have a powerful team,” he said. “From the Wall Street perspective, there is a lot of experience with public companies. If you look at it from the hotelier perspective, they have a lot of great hotel people near the top, too.”
Mangano’s response to Rudnitsky’s departure: “These things happen. It’s not a bad ending, and that’s good for everybody.”
Prince was equally as confident.
“The company is in great shape today,” Prince said. “Steve Rudnitsky identified a number of key acquisitions, and that’s all to broaden and strengthen the company offering.”
Wyndham hired Egon Zehnder International to conduct the search for a new president and CEO, according to O’Rourke.
“The kind of person Steve Holmes is looking for is somebody from the industry with global experience who has a good knowledge of the business,” she said. “And even if they are not directly in hotels—the person will come from hospitality or travel, most likely. As (Holmes) has said, we’re at a point in our growth where understanding hotel operations is a good skill set. And we are such a rapidly growing company, it’s the international understanding that is important. And being able to have solid relationships with business partners and franchisees is important.”
The use of an outside firm does not rule out internal candidates, according to O’Rourke.