LAS VEGAS – Yesterday, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts outlined plans to advance its position as the world’s leading provider of select-service hotel brands before thousands of its franchisees at its first global conference as an independent hotel company.
With a focus on enhancing returns for its nearly 6,000 franchisees, the company unveiled several initiatives designed to elevate its brands, deliver incremental resources to its owners, grow its presence, and meet the needs of today’s travelers.
“As the world’s largest hotel franchisor, our commitment to making hotel travel possible for all starts with our franchisees,” said Geoff Ballotti, president and CEO of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. “Together, we are elevating our family of iconic brands through innovation in quality and design, operational efficiency, strategic growth, and guest experience to shape not only the future of Wyndham but the legacy of our owners around the world.”
Elevating Economy
Wyndham continues to democratize travel by elevating the economy segment with distinct, meaningful experiences for guests—at an affordable price point—for some of its most iconic brands. On the heels of recent brand-wide redesign efforts for Super 8 by Wyndham and Howard Johnson by Wyndham, the company unveiled a new look for Days Inn by Wyndham.
With its 50th anniversary approaching in 2020, Days Inn—one of the largest brands in the economy segment—unveiled a new interior design package for its 1,400 hotels in the United States. The new design, named Dawn, takes inspiration from the sun with bright and airy rooms and sun-centric art celebrating the brand’s roots with a modern flair. The brand expects to implement the design standard across its U.S. portfolio in several phases.
Revolutionizing Design and Construction
Wyndham is prioritizing new-construction growth with the launch of both new and refreshed prototypes designed to lower development costs and capture greater efficiencies, taking a page from the best practices of La Quinta by Wyndham and the success of the recent Moda prototype launch from Microtel by Wyndham.
The Company announced plans to reposition its Wyndham Garden brand for growth with a new interior and exterior prototype called Arbor, which offers a streamlined, modern aesthetic inspired by nature that is designed to reduce cost-per-key to build.
Wyndham is also introducing a new prototype combining its extended-stay Hawthorn Suites brand with La Quinta, designed to streamline development and operational costs while appealing to multiple types of travelers. The dual-brand prototype leverages the newly refreshed room of La Quinta’s Del Sol prototype, which continues to draw developers, with seven new-construction agreements signed in the second quarter.
The company also debuted a refreshed interior design for AmericInn inspired by the modern lodge look, updating the brand’s contemporary exterior prototype while celebrating its heritage. Together, the interior and exterior designs represent the brand’s fourth-generation prototype.
Driving Global Growth
As international tourism continues to grow, Wyndham is positioning its well-known brands to capitalize on the rising demand for trusted lodging options for all travelers, particularly everyday travelers and the growing global middle class.
Five Wyndham brands have opened in new markets this year, including Days Inn in New Zealand; Microtel in China; Ramada by Wyndham in Armenia; Wyndham in Malaysia; and Wyndham Garden in Argentina, Australia and the Philippines. The company also signed agreements to introduce Dolce Hotels and Resorts by Wyndham in Denmark and Vietnam this year, and La Quinta in the Dominican Republic in 2021.
Further, since launching just over two years ago as the first soft brand geared toward midscale and upper-midscale hotels, Trademark Collection by Wyndham continues its rapid growth around the world, adding six new hotels in Canada and its first hotel in Latin America, in Belize, to its more than 100 hotels in North America and Europe.
Wyndham is also the largest international franchisor in Greater China and recently announced plans to open approximately 500 hotels in China over the next three years, bringing its total to more than 2,000 hotels there by the end of 2022. The company is also growing rapidly in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Rim, its fastest-growing region, and plans to open three new hotels in Thailand later this year. Additionally, Wyndham added three Ramada hotels in South Korea this year, surpassing 40 hotels in the country.
Digital Technology Evolution
Following its strategic initiative to endorse all of its brands with the “by Wyndham” moniker and the evolution of Wyndham Rewards, which brought about innovative, first-to-market partnerships such as DoorDash, Wyndham is leveraging new technology to expand its digital efforts to drive brand recognition and contribution and enhance the guest experience across its portfolio.
Addressing the ongoing challenge of providing great guest WiFi, Wyndham franchisees now have access to a new bundle of wireless and network services featuring high- quality hardware and equipment at lower costs called Wyndham WiFi. Hoteliers will have access to best-in-class wireless and network equipment, a professional home page, superior Wi-Fi services with consistent signals capable of handling guests’ multi-screen needs, and one-stop shopping for support.
Wyndham will also launch a new mobile app in the spring of 2020 offering streamlined bookings, account management, gamification, and exciting on-property features. This intuitive, anticipatory app also will provide Wyndham Rewards members with personalized moments throughout their journey.
