From eTN Global Travel Industry News

ROCKVILLE, Maryland – Choice Hotels announced a new executive appointment to assist with its Caribbean development thrust in a rebounding market.

Choice Hotels International, Inc. has assigned Atlanta-based hospitality executive Dennis Wynn to oversee the lodging company’s franchise sales efforts in the Caribbean.

Appointed Director of Membership for the company’s Ascend Hotel Collection in 2012, Wynn now adds the Caribbean region to his portfolio.

In this expanded role, Wynn will be responsible for the strategic growth and overall development direction not only for Ascend, but the core brands, including Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality Inn and Clarion.

Wynn, who has been with Choice since 2006, has been instrumental in creating a steady and long term growth strategy for the Ascend Hotel Collection, which now has more than 120 member hotels worldwide. Prior to joining Choice, Wynn served with The Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead in Atlanta as a chef.

“We love the Caribbean and our customer base is very interested in the Caribbean,” said Choice Hotels International President and CEO Stephen P. Joyce during the company’s recent annual convention in Las Vegas.

“Our brands do very well there and we have had very high contribution levels,” added Joyce, who believes there is greater opportunity beyond the existing eight hotels in the region.

The chief executive asserted that Choice was focused on its Comfort brand and the Ascend Hotel Collection for the region: “We are focused on the Comfort brand because everyone knows it, it’s a great product to have and it fits a lot of the mid-tier traveler needs in the Caribbean. And Ascend because it allows for the independent nature of the hotel operators who want to be on their own and do things their own way. These brands drive strong US-based and European-based traffic into our hotels and we give them great value for the relationship.”

Choice Hotels International currently has eight hotels in the Caribbean islands of the Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Curaçao, and Puerto Rico.

PHOTO: Dennis Wynn

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