Executives cite more upscale and extended stay product
Business travel revenue at Choice Hotels International rose 10% in the first quarter over 2024, according to executives on an earnings call. They attributed the increase to the company’s increasing share of upscale and extended stay properties, as well as a “resilient” customer profile.
Patrick Pacious, CEO, said that despite economic uncertainty, business travel demand should hold up due to the nature of Choice’s customers. He said the company now has 53,000 extended stay rooms, up 19% from five years ago. Choice also acquired Radisson hotels in 2022 and has its own upscale Cambria and Ascend brands.
Choice’s business travelers, said Pacious, have a relatively resilient profile. These are guests whose jobs cannot be accomplished without traveling, he said. They comprise, said Pacious, key categories such as construction, regional sales, utilities and medical staffing, “and we are now capturing additional longer-term opportunities from companies involved in the substantial infrastructure investments required by GenAI and the push toward the reshoring of American manufacturing.”
Scott Oaksmith, CFO, said the company had invested in its capabilities to drive more business travel, with an expanded sales force going after new segments and verticals. It also improved the effectiveness of its sales tools in the first quarter of 2025 and the fourth quarter of 2024. These efforts “really came to fruition,” he said.
Choice’s first-quarter domestic revenue per available room (RevPAR) increased 2.3% year over year to $46.28, while its average daily rate increased 1.7% to $90.78, and its occupancy increased 0.3 percentage points to 51%.
Total first-quarter Choice revenue was nearly $332.9 million, up slightly less than $1 million from the same period in 2024. At the end of the quarter, Choice had about 647,600 rooms in its system, up nearly 3% year over year. The company reported a pipeline of about 95,000 rooms, down from 115,000 rooms at the end of the first quarter of 2024.
