GLOBAL LEADERS: Trent Fraser

DESPITE THE CHALLENGES of border closures and uncertainty around the recovery timing with many owners, Choice Hotels was able to outperform our competitors in 2021, with more than 500 new rooms opening across Australia and New Zealand.

We welcomed a terrific range of properties to our network, including Quality Apartments Adelaide Central and Comfort Hotel Adelaide Meridien in South Australia, The Beachcomber Ascend Hotel Collection in Toukley, NewSouth Wales, The Benson Hotel in Cairns, Queensland, Comfort Apartments Royal Gardens in Melbourne, Victoria, and finally, across the Tasman, Quality SuitesCentral Square in Palmerston North, New Zealand.

We are pleased with how we rounded out 2021 and are looking forward to executing our long-term strategy for business delivery and expansion, focused on recovery in2022, including significantly increased investment in the APAC region.

Businesses across all industries have been struck down with significant staff shortages due to the pandemic, which has put additional pressure on operations. I’m proud of how our organization has collectively handled this latest curveball and how our properties have demonstrated collaboration and resilience and looked to alternative employment practices such as job sharing to ensure our customers continue to receive the same level of service.

Choice Hotels is supportive of the industry push to encourage more overseas students and skilled migrants back into the country to assist with the current staff and skills shortage. We have also developed local initiatives, including Choice Careers, a platform providing our franchisees with a forum to advertise open positions in the hope that we can attract and retain great people within our network.

We are firmly focused on driving revenue recovery for our franchisees and assisting with cost reduction wherever possible in 2022.

We have a comprehensive procurement program that can significantly reduce our franchisees’ total cost of ownership. Our Revenue Management team is well connected to our portfolio and will continue to build on the market-leading results we’ve experienced this year, with Revenue Managed properties’ Rev PARoutperforming our competitors by almost 20% in 2021.

Flexibility and working from home arrangements will continue to remain as a central theme across our team. Between the rolling lockdowns in 2021, the team has maintained an efficient WFH schedule and work culture, and I’m pleased to continue this approach into 2022, especially while we navigate new challenges with the Omicron variant.

As a percentage of total hotel revenue, our directonline contribution grew more than 50% in 2021compared to 2019.

We launched several new initiatives and partnerships in 2021, including with United Petroleum in November,to assist more Australians in supporting regional tourism by taking a road trip holiday and enjoying four cents per litre off petrol every time they fill up. We see road tripping as the preferred mode of transport in the near future, as airports continue to pose risks to travellers and challenges for returning home if an individual does test positive whilst on holiday.

I’m optimistic about the year ahead – with or without COVID-19, any year brings its own set of challenges and opportunities. The resilience, persistence and leadership demonstrated across our entire organisation over the last two years will undoubtedly serve us well and drive us to deliver optimal results.

Number of hotels (Globally): 7,500 hotels

Number of hotels (Asia-Pacific): 300+ hotels

Year the company was founded: 1939

Year first hotel opened (Globally): 1939

Year first hotel opened (Asia Pacific): 2002

Brands in the organisation (Asia Pacific): 5

Head office locations: Rockville, Maryland and Melbourne