Monday, March 4, 2024
Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH), a leading franchisor in the global lodging industry, inaugurates “Mastery 2024” today, an annual week-long summit dedicated to technological innovation. Over 500 company technologists gather at Choice’s Scottsdale, Arizona headquarters to participate in a series of gamified trainings and workshops aimed at fostering innovation. The summit concludes with a 48-hour make-a-thon, during which Choice associates collaborate to develop new software products utilizing cutting-edge technology to enhance profitability and value for the company and its hotel owners.
“Mastery keeps us current on cutting-edge technologies like AI and helps spark creativity, innovation, and team building,” said Brian Kirkland, chief information officer, Choice Hotels International. “We want to make sure we are constantly innovating and trying new things so that we can continue to deliver value-driving technology for Choice, our franchisees, and our guests.”
During Mastery 2024, tech teams will focus on devising solutions to streamline the hotel onboarding process, visualize a property’s environmental impact, enhance customer service experiences, and more. Following the make-a-thon, teams will present their innovations to a committee of Choice executives, competing for cash prizes and the opportunity to further refine and implement their ideas throughout the organization.
Last year’s Mastery event saw the creation of a tool that significantly reduced daily tickets from 4,000 to just 40 through the utilization of AI and other emerging technologies. Past winning projects have included enhancements to online travel agency systems resulting in increased revenue, as well as the development of various security analysis and automation tools.
Choice recently marked a significant milestone by shutting down its final data center, becoming the first major hotel company to fully migrate its system infrastructure to AWS. Now operating entirely on the cloud, Choice is poised to continue its commitment to innovation, harnessing the power of AI to drive further business value for its franchisees. The company has introduced pioneering technologies tailored for owners, such as the choiceADVANTAGE cloud-based reservation system, the Your Key to Profit platform consolidating profitability tools, and choiceEDGE, which utilizes AI and historical trend analysis to optimize room sales.
“Choice’s long-standing commitment and investment in technology provides hotel owners and operators of our brands with an edge,” said Anna Scozzafava, chief strategy officer and senior vice president of technology, Choice Hotels International. “Our hotel-facing tech is cloud-based, mobile-friendly and easy to use to ensure all owners can leverage our best-in-class tools.”
Choice Hotels has a storied history of technological innovation, with milestones including the launch of the first hotel website featuring real-time rate and availability information in 1995, the introduction of the first cloud-based property management system (PMS), choiceADVANTAGE, in 2003, and the release of the first hotel app for iOS in 2009. The company has consistently been at the forefront of innovation, with achievements such as offering instant booking on TripAdvisor in 2014, being listed as the only hotel company on Forbes’ Top 100 Most Innovative Growth Companies the same year, and launching choiceEDGE, the industry’s first cloud-based central reservation system (CRS), in 2018. In 2019, Choice made a groundbreaking commitment to migrate 100% of its operations to AWS Cloud, and in 2021, it unveiled ChoiceMAX, an acclaimed AI-driven revenue management solution designed for mobile platforms. In early 2024, Choice successfully completed its transition to the cloud, marking another milestone in its history of technological leadership.
Tags: AI, AWS, choice hotels, Cloud Migration, franchisees, hospitality, lodging, Mastery 2024, summit, Tech Innovation
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
