The parallels between AAHOA and Best Western® Hotels & Resorts
It’s the voice of our members who drive our organization forward. This sentiment rings true for two industry-leading organizations: AAHOA and Best Western Hotels & Resorts. Both organizations have placed members at the heart of all that they do. After all, it’s members who, at the very core, lead both companies.
The Best Western Hotels & Resorts Board of Directors
As a Board, we often reflect on how the structure of our organization has been the key element behind our more than 75 years of success. It’s because we are a membership organization that cares about each of its members that we have grown into a global powerhouse, with more than 4,500 hotels in more than 100 countries around the world. Also critical to our success is that we are united in our mission – to deliver trusted guest experiences, drive hotel success, and foster a caring, inclusive culture that respects our environment. And, we have a shared vision for our organization – to inspire travel through unique experiences. Ensuring the voice of our members remains at the forefront of every decision we make is fundamental to the success of both our mission and vision.
TEAMWORK
Best Western has been fortunate to have long-standing partnerships with organizations such as AAHOA. Our partnership is built on mutual respect, shared values, and a common purpose. As a founding member of AAHOA, we share AAHOA’s values of self-improvement, bettering our communities, and empowering hoteliers to follow their dreams. The strength of our partnership has never been more evident than it was during the global pandemic. As an industry, we experienced remarkable challenges. However, we stood shoulder to shoulder with our members and our partners at AAHOA, and our mutual resolve to persevere and emerge stronger than ever before never wavered.
The Best Western Hotels & Resorts extended corporate team joins the Board of Directors, including (L-R on the front row) President & Chief Executive Officer Larry Cuculic, Director Santosh Khanjee, Secretary-Treasurer Steve Wahrlich, Vice-Chairman Phil Payne, Chairman Danny Lafayette, Director Mike Merchant, Director Raj (Rajesh) Patel, and Director Viral (Victor) Patel.
From the pandemic’s beginning, both of our organizations were focused on helping our members survive. At Best Western, we provided timely and insightful communication, and practical guidance. Fortunately, we were able to give $80M in financial relief to our members through the end of 2022. Similar to Best Western, during this incredibly challenging time, the leadership team at AAHOA was steadfast in its commitment to advocate for its members and our industry. AAHOA made numerous calls to government officials and hotel brands throughout the industry to recognize the hardships faced by their members and do whatever they could to help their businesses survive.
WHAT’S NEXT?
As we look to the future, both AAHOA and Best Western are fiercely determined to drive meaningful results to our members, grow our memberships, and help our hoteliers operate with increased efficiency. At Best Western, a few of our top priorities include strengthening our global presence, exceeding guest expectations, driving superior revenue and hotel profitability, embracing a global environmental strategy, and – importantly – growing and enhancing our Best Western Rewards and WorldHotels Rewards loyalty programs. We also look forward to continuing to work closely with AAHOA to support their advocacy efforts and to ensure the interests of our members are well represented.
The need for our organizations to remain unified toward our shared goals has never been more critical. While our industry has experienced a strong resurgence, we remain cautiously optimistic for what lies ahead. At Best Western, our ADR and RevPAR continue to trend upward – very positive signs for our hoteliers. But challenges continue in our industry, from supply and labor challenges to broader political and economic issues. If the past two and half years have taught us anything, it’s that the hospitality industry is incredibly resilient, but it’s critical that we tackle these challenges in a unified voice.
Best Western’s partnership with AAHOA is deeply ingrained in who we are as a hotel family. We’re proud to engage in constructive dialogue with our AAHOA partners, our members, and other industry leaders as we create a brighter future for our industry. We look forward to seeing all that our two organizations accomplish together in the years ahead.
