PLANO, Texas—Aimbridge Hospitality marked this year with leadership changes, investment in talent, and differentiated service offerings aimed at driving performance and results for hotel owners. As the company builds momentum, Aimbridge remains focused on its associates and general managers, expanding its collection of tools and services, and growing its scale across its managed portfolio.
“We are united by a shared vision to deliver superior hotel performance while deepening our relationships with our owners,” said Craig S. Smith, CEO, Aimbridge Hospitality. “Aimbridge is strategically positioned to lead the industry with a strong executive team that is hyper-focused on operational excellence, innovation, and partnership. At the heart of this transformation is our investment in people—particularly our general managers, whose leadership is critical to our property teams as they deliver exceptional guest experiences that ultimately make our managed properties successful. Together, we are shaping a future where operational agility, empowered leadership, and sustained results define our success.”
Updates from 2024 thus far include:
Leadership Team
Throughout 2024, Aimbridge welcomed a series of leadership appointments and promotions to complete its bench, including Craig S. Smith, CEO; Eric B. Jacobs, chief global growth officer; William Davenport, chief financial officer; Christopher Tatum, president—full service; the internal promotion of Keryn McNamara, chief information officer and the return of Greg Moundas, chief legal officer. These announcements underscore Aimbridge’s focus on driving a vision for the future and reinforcing its goals.
Talent
Ann Christenson, chief human resources officer, led efforts to build a talent development program and ensure Aimbridge remains an employer for industry talent, with a focus on creating an inclusive and supportive environment for all associates.
Aimbridge focused on general managers (GMs) as the “CEOs” of their respective hotels. One such investment is the GM Connect leadership development program, which gives general managers the skills and knowledge to lead their properties and teams. Since its inception, more than 800 GMs have participated in the program, contributing to a decrease in GM turnover by 48 percent in the past year and continuing to keep it below the industry average.
Alignment
In September, Aimbridge rebranded its disciplines to Aimbridge Commercial, underscoring the company’s focus on generating revenue for owners with an approach to revenue generation. Aimbridge offers commercial services to its owners through its e-commerce and marketing team, Second Wave, the company’s in-house digital and marketing agency.
The company gives flexibility to its on-property associates by embracing technology that gives employees control over scheduling and work-location preferences through shift scheduling. Through a mobile app, associates can self-schedule, swap shifts, and pick up open shifts across hotels, leading to work-life balance. More than 12,000 employees—about 30 percent of Aimbridge’s hourly workforce—have traded shifts since the program launch in 2023.
The Aimbridge leadership team is aligned on performance metrics, accountability, and a focus on delivering results for owners and properties alike. These results are shared through a newly introduced data and reporting tool built by Aimbridge called Aimbridge Intelligence, part of the company’s owner dashboard OwnView. Aimbridge Intelligence creates transparency and collaboration with owners by providing near real-time access to STR performance, RevPAR Index, profitability, guest service, and turnover data. Through Aimbridge Intelligence, owners can view the metrics associated with their hotels or an entire portfolio.
