· Quality brand refresh launched as part of Choice Hotels EMEA’s ongoing brand re-energisation strategy
· Brand refresh responds to research identifying post-pandemic guest priorities and requirements
· Follows the EMEA relaunch of Comfort in April and Clarion in May, with the Choice Hotels’ Sleep brand to enter EMEA for the first time later this year and plans for Ascend Hotel Collection to be revisited later this year
· Comes as Choice Hotels celebrates 50th anniversary of the opening of its first Europe hotel
· Franchisor’s refresh strategy focuses on offering relevant brands that deliver value to guests and its franchisee hoteliers
Amsterdam, 3rd October 2022 - Choice Hotels EMEA, the region’s leading franchisor, has revealed the refresh concept for its Quality brand as part of its EMEA brand portfolio re-energisation strategy.
Choice Hotels EMEA owners will begin transitioning to the refreshed brand and its hallmarks over the next two years.
The refresh responds to research into the preferences of post-pandemic travellers in key EMEA markets, revealing that Quality guests seek hotels with the relaxed comforts of home, complemented by a warm and friendly service.
Reflecting research findings, Quality hotels in EMEA will transform into ‘Contemporary Habitats’ in great locations, characterised by modern design and facilities, high cleanliness standards and attentive touches, from design features to a fresh menu.
Thoughtfully designed to attract guests who are creatures of comfort, hotel spaces will be warm and inviting, becoming the preferred place to relax, socialise, work or dine and brought to life by a caring team of service-driven Quality hosts.
Commenting on the Quality brand refresh, Choice Hotels EMEA CEO Jonathan Mills said: “With the Quality refresh underway, we mark another milestone in our ongoing brand portfolio re-energisation strategy for EMEA. Announced earlier this year, this new brand direction has already seen the successful relaunch of Comfort and then Clarion in the second quarter of 2022.
“Our goal is clear – to build a portfolio of preferred brands that are not only relevant to the traveller of today, but of the future. By meeting the travel and lifestyle needs of midscale guests, we are positioning our brands as the preferred accommodation option above all others.”
“While this concept is guest-centric, by redefining hotel spaces and enhancing the traveller experience it is franchisee-focused too, increasing the asset’s value and delivering revenue-driving opportunities by becoming more market relevant.
“The EMEA Quality refresh also provides our franchisees with a framework for customisation, enabling them to adapt their asset to suit its size, segment mix and location in order to stand out in the midscale market. They can put on their own stamp, weaving in local references that guests appreciate, from design features and fresh produce to the Quality hosts themselves, recruited from the local community.
“Our decision to invest in refreshing our brand propositions for the region came at a time when the hotel industry had been forced to recalibrate. 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. With the hospitality and travel and tourism market recovery gaining momentum, our brand refreshes have become even more significant, capitalising on demand by offering guest-relevant hotels with defined brand hallmarks and reinforcing our franchisee-first approach, driving return on investment and increased profitability to our valued partners.”
Each EMEA Quality hotel will offer three key elements that franchisees can customise:
‘Quality Hosts’ will make guests feel at home and cared for, putting service first, process second, and all trained in the Q service Style Programme, an in-depth course designed to bring out the best in each staff member, enabling their personalities to shine.
EMEA Quality hotels will delight guests throughout their stay with ‘Quality Moments’, a collection of touchpoints that are personal and local. These will include a signature ‘Our Hotel’ personal welcome, a ‘Meet Your Hosts’ photo wall, a ‘Local Discovery’ card in every guest room, and a creative farewell mailbox.
Encouraging guests to spend ‘Quality Time’, hotels will offer a curated yet customisable Wine & Cocktail Menus at their food and beverage outlets, featuring drinks with a flavour reflective of local culture and customs. Dining menus will prioritise dishes made from locally sourced ingredients, while every Quality property will offer a ‘Grab a Snack’ concept and employ ‘Certified Coffee Gurus’ in a nod to the lifestyle behaviours and preferences of today’s guests.
The relaxed feeling that being at home offers heavily influences the design direction of every Quality hotel, with fresh and contemporary spaces enhanced by thoughtful local touches.
To support franchisees with the Quality refresh rollout, Choice Hotels EMEA has provided new brand toolkits featuring inspirational design guidelines as well as brand standards documentation. Comprehensive brand and service training is also being conducted to support every hotel with the transition.
The Quality brand refresh follows Choice Hotels, a company and brand with more than eight decades of history, celebrating the 50th anniversary of its first hotel opening in Europe, with new strategic deals being signed this year to further expand the European portfolio.
The Choice Hotels EMEA brand proposition currently encompasses Clarion, Quality, Comfort and the Ascend Hotel Collection, with the Sleep brand on track to make its EMEA debut in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Following the brand refresh launches, the Choice Hotels EMEA team is working closely with hotels to help them become brand-standard compliant by the end of the year, with soft refurbishments and brand service training completed where possible.
For further information on Choice Hotels EMEA, please visit: https://www.choicehotels.com/en-uk
ENDS
For further information, please contact: Katie Kershaw at Kershaw and Company
07539 437 238/ katie@kershawandcompany.com
Notes to Editors
About Choice Hotels EMEA Choice Hotels EMEA™ is represented under the Ascend Hotel Collection™, Clarion™, Quality™ and Comfort™ brands, in France, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, and Turkey. Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH) is one of the largest lodging franchisors in the world. Choice recently acquired Radisson Hotels Americas, adding nine brands and approximately 67,000 rooms in the United States, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean to its portfolio. With 22 brands, Choice Hotels has more than 7,500 hotels, and nearly 650,000 rooms, in 46 countries and territories as of August 11, 2022. The Choice® family of hotel brands provide business and leisure travelers with a broad range of high-quality lodging options from limited service to full-service hotels in the upper upscale, upper mid-scale, midscale, extended-stay and economy segments. The award-winning Choice Privileges® loyalty program offers members a faster way to rewards, with personalized benefits starting on day one. For more information, visit www.choicehotels.com.
Forward-Looking Statement This communication includes "forward-looking statements" about future events, including anticipated hotel openings. Such statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including construction delays, availability and cost of financing and the other "Risk Factors" described in the Annual Report on Form 10-K and the Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q of Choice Hotels International, Inc., any of which could cause actual results to be materially different from our expectations.
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