Choice Hotels International Inc is on track to meet its target for a 3 percent increase in the number of its franchised hotels this year, the company’s chief financial officer said on Wednesday.
That would outpace the Smith Travel Research forecast for unit growth in the economy to mid-scale segment of 2.4 percent.
Since travel demand is so highly correlated to the state of the overall economy, growth in the lodging sector “is really about stealing share from your competitors,” Choice CFO David White said at the Reuters Travel and Leisure Summit in New York.
The company has forecast that its revenue per available room will drop 10 percent this year.
Choice is a pure-play hotel franchisor, unlike other publicly traded lodging companies like Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc (HOT.N), which derive most of their revenue from fees for managing hotels.
The company, with economy to mid-scale brands like Comfort Inn and EconoLodge, now holds about a 9.4 percent share of the U.S. hotel market.