Travel Q&A: 5 questions with Best Western CEO David Kong
— -- This week, we debut our new Q&A series with newsmakers from the travel industry. We begin with David Kong, CEO of Best Western, the world's largest hotel chain. The Phoenix-based association has more than 2,400 properties in North America and over 4,000 worldwide.
Unlike other chains, Best Western works as a non-profit operation, collecting fees upfront for licensing the brand. Each owner is considered a member of the association and independently operates the hotel. Over the years, the uniquely decentralized model of operations has bred varying standards and inconsistent quality throughout the system, an operational challenge that Kong and its board have tried to tackle in recent years.
Q: What changes can we expect in your industry in the coming years?
Best Western is in the mid-scale segment (of hotels). It's traditionally the most resilient during a downturn. Our segment has taken a slight hit, but not as dramatic as other segments. (In a sluggish economy), people tend to trade down and look for value and midscale (hotels) offer that. The segment has made some serious product enhancements (in recent months). The overall experience is comparable to some of the upscale hotels.
Q: Tell us about some changes in the works to improve or expand your current products and services?
We've implemented numerous standards to look fresh and contemporary. In bathrooms, (we've installed) granite or other natural countertop materials, curved shower rods and high pressure shower heads.
We've also launched a new hotel prototype called Atrea. It's to compete with the upscale segment, (such as) Courtyard (by Marriott) and Hyatt Place. We're trying to capture the excitement back to the our hotels. In the lobby for example, we put in a media center. The breakfast area is set up so it looks like a lounge area at night. The room itself is very contemporary. We have 25 contracts that have been signed for (Atrea) and two hotels activating in February (in Conyers, Ga. and San Antonio). We're not making any changes to the brand now. (But) if (developers) met those (Atrea) requirements, they can use the name Best Western Atrea. It's an architectural prototype.
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