Noteworthy Innovations

Over the past seven decades, Choice has solidified its position as an industry leader. Consider these Choice innovations, which have helped shape the industry:

• First to offer a brand name and create a hotel chain.
• First to establish brand and quality standards.
• First to provide travel directories.
• First to offer 24-hour front desk service and in-room telephones.
• First to guarantee reservations.
• First to segment in the lodging industry.
• First to offer 24-hour reservations and a toll-free reservations line.
• First to offer a global marketing/reservations system.
• First to offer non-smoking rooms in every hotel.
• First to provide online reservations via the World Wide Web.
• First to launch a global iPhone application.

Choice Hotels Noteworthy Innovations

2000

First to offer wireless reservations via handheld computers.

2001

Launched “Thanks for Traveling,” an industry-wide campaign to help America get back on the road after 9/11.

Implemented “last room availability,” synchronizing the hotels’ room inventory with our central reservations system.

2002

Launched www.choicesportstravel.com, a website designed exclusively to accommodate the lodging needs of sports travelers.

2003

Launched Best Internet Guarantee that guarantees consumers the best on-line rates via choicehotels.com.

2004

Held a Multi-Cultural Franchising Seminar to educate potential franchisees on the steps required to become a top performing hotel owner.

Held the World’s Greatest Sales Blitz, a worldwide initiative thanking the travel agent community for its continuous support of the lodging industry.

Launched the Women’s Business Alliance at Choice Hotels 50th Annual Convention.

2005

Introduced an agreement with The Ticket Reserve that gave dedicated fans access to secure standard-rate hotel rooms, as well as face-value game tickets, as they watch their favorite teams compete in some of the largest sporting events.

2006

Choice Hotels introduced Be Our Best, a three-year certification program determined to enhance guest service and satisfaction.

2008

The hotel membership program, Ascend Collection® was introduced in May 2008 and launched October 2008.

2009

Choice Hotels launched a free iPhone application – marks first global app from a hotel company. The new app allows users to book rooms anytime, anywhere using one of the most popular wireless devices available on the market.

Choice Hotels added more than 1.75 million new members to the Choice Privileges® rewards program in 2009. This brought the loyalty program’s global membership to over 9.3 million members.

2010

Redesigned and launched the new choicehotels.com website. The new site makes it easier to find and book the right hotel for your travels. Some of the enhanced features of the site include: simple, powerful search options and easily sorted results; highlighted deals, amenity icons and hotel comparisons; rate comparison and packages according to needs and interests; saved favorites for faster future booking; improved Choice Privileges pages for easier account management.

President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Joyce was named national chairman of the U.S. Travel Association, the 1,500 member national organization representing every segment of the travel community.

The Choice Privileges rewards program reached the 10-million-member milestone.  The company finished 2010 with 12 million Choice Privileges members. 

A Cambria Suites hotel opened in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the fifth Cambria Suites hotel to open in 2010. Other Cambria Suites properties that opened their doors to guests in 2010 were in Oklahoma City; Fort Lauderdale; Roanoke, Virginia; and Washington, Pennsylvania. The company ended the year with 23 Cambria Suites hotels open.

2011

Choice Hotels receives a Visionary Award from Hospitality Technology magazine for its “outstanding vision in achievement in delivering technological excellence” for its proprietary choiceADVANTAGE® property management system, in place at over 4,000 Choice Hotels worldwide.

2012

The company’s Choice Privileges® rewards program celebrates 15 million members.
Choice Hotels introduces the Choice Hotels Locator iPad application.