I was recently invited to spend a day getting to know the Choice Hotels people in Melbourne.
For those readers who may not know, Choice Hotels is the global accommodation chain that bought Flag hotels back in 2002. Choices pedigree is substantial with 60 years of successful operations in 5300 hotels in 40 countries around the world.
Flag's own history in this region is equally impressive with a foundation of successful operations over 40 years.
Choice's local managing director, David Bayes said the past history of success is relevant but it's today's performance and tomorrows opportunities that are most important.
The Choice of today is certainly different to the Flag model, having segmented from a one-brand operation to now three - clearly identifying different levels of offerings in accommodation throughout the region. Comfort properties typically operate in the 3? to 4 star range, Quality in the 4 to 4? star range and Clarion at 4? stars.
David explained that today's management is very focused on driving revenue to its 300 franchised properties and building relationships with the franchisees, general managers and sales managers to ensure everybody is aligned with that clear objective.
And it seems to be working!
David claimed that over the past year, Choice Hotels room revenue has grown at a rate of 11% more than 35% above market growth reported in ABS stats. That is an astonishing result and David claims it is the outcome of clearly focused, revenue driving sales, marketing and operations strategies.
Over the past two years, Choice have reviewed and strengthened their value proposition in almost every area. David claims the starting point for everything is the face-to-face relationship that Choice has with its operators. He and his key senior managers attend regional franchise meetings with operators twice every year in nine regions across Australia and New Zealand.
"The only way I know to build the trust and confidence we need is to turn up, listen to opinions and communicate what we're doing. It's not rocket science but it incredibly important," David explained. He said they have really beefed up the franchise service managers role with a strong senior field team working on property standards, rates, inventory and yield management and customer satisfaction. Every property is visited a number of times every year and franchisees are coming to appreciate and respect the face-to-face help that is provided.
"There is a growing mutual understanding about what we can achieve when we work together and the results are showing.
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