LAS VEGAS — Choice Hotels International opened its 70th annual convention at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino with the theme of “Making More Possible” for owners and operators.
President and CEO Patrick Pacious began the opening general session on Tuesday by assuring attendees that Choice’s leaders were “working relentlessly” on three priorities: “We are going to make more top-line revenue possible for you, make more personal support possible for you … and make more performance possible for you by harnessing the incredible power of artificial intelligence to help you run a more profitable business.”
Technology and Revenue
To that end, Pacious announced several tech-related initiatives during the opening general session. The company’s updated revenue engine will get new commercial tools, including Choice Hotels EasyBid, an AI‑powered request-for-proposal platform designed to help owners respond faster and capture more group business.
Pacious also announced Choice Hotels Business Direct, an upcoming self‑service solution for small and medium‑sized businesses to book and manage stays directly on ChoiceHotels.com. Together with RAISE, a new AI‑powered rate-management tool also launching later this year, the platforms are expected to help owners price more effectively, move faster on opportunities and unlock incremental revenue with greater efficiency.
Turning the Corner
The company, Pacious said, has “turned the corner towards a more profitable future.” Citing stabilizing interest rates, growing employment and improved consumer spending, Pacious said that revenue per available room is “trending up,” and the company had the highest number of U.S. franchise hotel openings in the first quarter that it has reported in more than a decade.
In the 46 states not impacted by last year's hurricanes, RevPAR turned positive in the first quarter, with more than 3 percent RevPAR growth in the month of March. “The momentum has continued into April,” he added. “We expect to see positive RevPAR growth throughout the rest of this year, and that's because projections show that the hotel industry supply will continue to be extremely limited.” Low supply and higher demand mean better pricing power for owners, Pacious noted.
Across extended-stay, upscale and core brands, Choice Hotels entered 2026 with performance trends that reinforce its strong development momentum across its portfolio.
Hotels in Choice’s extended-stay portfolio are “building” on the segment’s strongest year on record in 2025. Choice opened 66 U.S. extended-stay hotels and awarded 93 franchise agreements last year. U.S. extended-stay agreements increased 15 percent year over year and the company has a pipeline of 30,600 rooms as of year‑end.
Choice opened 27 U.S. hotels across its Ascend Collection, Cambria Hotels and Radisson brands in 2025. Across its core brands, Choice Hotels awarded 247 U.S. franchise agreements in 2025, and the number of global midscale franchise agreements awarded grew 14 percent year over year, including a 50 percent increase in U.S. agreements for Country Inn & Suites.
In the first quarter of 2026, international net rooms grew 13 percent year over year, following record international development in 2025, when the company onboarded 130 new international hotels and expanded its portfolio to nearly 160,000 rooms outside the United States.
Canada continues to stand out as a key growth market, following Choice Hotels’ transition to a direct franchising model. In Q1 2026, the Canadian business delivered its strongest first‑quarter growth in over a decade, including RevPAR growth of 5.2 percent year over year on a currency‑neutral basis, revenue growth of more than 20 percent, and a 55 percent increase in pipeline rooms.