MANCHESTER, England — Choice Hotels International is on the move in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, with a goal to double its portfolio to 100,000 rooms within the next five years, according to its top executive in the region.
Jonathan Mills, CEO of the EMEA region for Choice , said the firm’s June 2022 acquisition of the Radisson Americas portfolio has given renewed emphasis to growth.
That deal closed in August.
“For the EMEA region, the benefit of that deal is the ripple effect it is creating. It strengthens our [region’s] position,” Mills said, adding that Choice has been in the EMEA region for more than 50 years.
Mills started his latest role in November 2020, with his previous 17 years being spent in senior roles in Asia at Wyndham Destinations and IHG Hotels & Resorts.
Mills said the big question for his team is where the key growth markets in Europe are.
“Our value proposition is that we are a pure franchisor. Franchising is our absolute focus, and that puts us in white space in Europe,” he said. “Our hallmarks are an experiential focus for customers and a revenue-driving focus for owners.”
Czech firm CPI Hotels is one such owner.
Now in its fourth decade as a partner with Choice, CPI Hotels opened the 175-room Clarion Congress Hotel Bratislava in the capital of Slovakia in January. Another project, the rebranding and renovation of the former Mercure Bratislava Centrum to the Comfort Hotel Budapest, is scheduled to open in the Hungarian capital before the end of the year.
Repositioning Europe
Mills said Choice faces the same challenges as every company in the industry — inflation, staffing and utility costs — but he added recent organizational and operating changes have put it in a better position to withstand such pressure.
He said the first change during COVID-19 was a rebuilding of the firm's structure and teams, with new regional offices in London, Munich and Paris playing support to its central one in Amsterdam.
The next step, he said, was to work on brand repositioning in collaboration with business advisory BDRC.
“We spoke with franchisees, looked at the data and engaged with customers and non-customers in an anonymous exercise to see what their post-pandemic requirements were. [Customers] did not want a home away from home but certain elements of the comforts of home,” he said. “Mostly their answers were around the roots of hospitality.”
Brand Expansion
Choice has four brands in the EMEA region, with the fifth, boutique soft brand Ascend Hotel Collection, set to debut in the first quarter of 2023.
Mills said Comfort Inn, with a strong focus on food and beverage, has traditionally been its main European driver. Its Clarion brand was relaunched last May at the International Hotel Investment Forum in Berlin, and Quality Inn relaunched a few weeks ago as “contemporary habitats.”
Choice's Sleep Inn brand, which has a focus on wellness, will debut in the region in November.
Globally, Choice has 12 hotel brands and one vacation-rental brand.
Mills said owners will have more leeway to adapt their hotels in line with how the midscale hotel market is developing in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
“It was imperative we met evolving needs of the value-seeking guest and at the same time, create a franchisee collaboration proposition that was future fit,” he added in a news release accompanying the repositioning.
Mills said the changes are already paying off with better hotel performance.
In the United Kingdom, Choice's revenue per available room is now surpassing 2019 levels, he said, while at its France hotels, average daily rate is driving performance.
“Germany has a way to go, mostly as it was the last out of the gate in lifting restrictions,” he said.