Best Western's Parent BWH Hotels Becomes WorldHotels
The 18 hotel brands keep their names, but the group's two loyalty programs merge on January 5. Owners were told at a convention in Phoenix.
BWH Hotels, the parent company of Best Western, is renaming itself WorldHotels. It borrows the name from one of the smallest brands in its portfolio, which it bought in 2019 and which has about 250 properties. The company wants to appeal to a broader range of travelers.
The company told hotel owners about the change on Tuesday at its annual convention in Phoenix. All 18 brands keep their names, so a Best Western remains a Best Western. The change applies mainly to the parent. The two loyalty programs, Best Western Rewards and WorldHotels Rewards, will merge under the WorldHotels name on January 5. They will drop from five tiers to three.
"We've evolved faster than public awareness," CEO Larry Cuculic said in an interview. The group went from one brand in 2010 to 18, across luxury, boutique, upscale, extended-stay and economy. "Travelers only know us as a portion of our portfolio," he said.
Owners get no vote
BWH is a one-hotel, one-vote cooperative, and three-quarters of its hotels carry the Best Western name in some way. Members did not vote on the rename. In 2019, North American owners rejected a board proposal to turn the group into a for-profit corporation.
Cuculic said about 96 million travelers who would consider the group's hotels do not know what Best Western stands for today. He pointed to an industry habit of using an upscale brand as the master brand, citing the 2003 renaming of IHG.
Growth has flattened. BWH told Skift it has 3,920 operating hotels, little changed from the "over 3,900" it reported in 2019, with more than 400 in the pipeline.
The company says it will pay for the changeover and a January global campaign from its own balance sheet. Owners will see no increase in fees, dues or assessments.
Source: Skift