Wyndham Caps Banner Year, Poised for Continued Growth Amid Rising Global Travel Demand
World's largest hotel franchisor positioned for long-term success following a year of global expansion, new brand openings and numerous owner and guest investments
PARSIPPANY, N.J., Jan. 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Following a banner year capping multiple milestones and accomplishments, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is poised for continued growth and innovation in 2025. Chief among its priorities: complementing its strong foundation of economy and midscale brands with new upscale and lifestyle brands, while scaling technology and digital capabilities to deliver best-in-class experiences for hotel owners and guests.
"We navigated an unforgettable year in 2024, remaining steadfast in our ability to deliver for guests, owners and shareholders. From welcoming our 25th brand and expanding into new markets, to broadening our bench of aspirational hotels and generating new owner revenue streams via the industry's best tech platform – 2024's successes have both Wyndham and our franchisees well positioned for the years ahead."
- Geoff Ballotti, president and CEO, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts
According to a recent McKinsey study, travel spending reached its highest level last year since 1960—driven by consumers' shifting preferences for experiences over material goods. And it's a trend poised to continue. The U.S. Travel Association projects travel spend to grow ~4% to $1.35 trillion in 2025, while recent Skift Research suggests global travel spend to increase by 9%. At the same time, the International Air Transport Association unveiled last month it expects global air travel to reach a record-breaking 5.2 billion passengers in 2025—up ~7% from 2024.
Driving Growth
With recognizable brands spanning every segment of the industry, Wyndham saw continued global growth in 2024, adding a new brand, expanding its presence in key markets and building on its footprint in key segments like extended-stay. Among the highlights, the Company:
- Opened its first ECHO Suites® Extended Stay by Wyndham hotels, reinforcing its position as the industry's fastest-growing all new-construction brand. Early locations are seeing daily occupancy rates as high as 80% within weeks of opening. ECHO now makes up 14% of the Company's development pipeline.
- Expanded its offerings in the booming extended-stay segment with new upscale offerings, including the launch of WaterWalk Extended StaySM by Wyndham, its 25th brand, and the introduction of Wyndham Residences® in the U.S., a new tier within its namesake Wyndham® brand.
- Strengthened its portfolio in key countries where it holds a significant presence, including the U.K., India, Türkiye and Mexico, while introducing 12 of its brands into a combined 22 new markets. The Company also announced an exclusive agreement to introduce its Microtel® brand in India, targeting 40 open hotels by 2031.
- Joined forces with international lifestyle hospitality group, sbe, to introduce HQ Hotels & ResidencesSM, a new "smart lifestyle" brand affiliated with Registry Collection Hotels®. Focused on dining, nightlife and wellness, the brand opens its first hotel in Antigua this quarter: Hodges Bay Resort and Spa, a HQ Luxury Resort and Residences.
Tooled for Success
Delivering on its OwnerFirst® approach to franchising, Wyndham further leveraged its unmatched size and scale in 2024 to provide franchisees with robust tools, solutions and innovative technology, helping them capture more business. Among the highlights, the Company:
- Introduced Wyndham ConnectSM, helping hotels increase revenue and curate personalized guest experiences via AI-generated messaging, upsells, mobile check-in and check-out, mobile tipping and more. Approximately 2,000 of the Company's hotels in North America are regularly engaging with the tool and seeing significant incremental revenue as a result.
- Refreshed its Wyndham Business platform, anchored by the new Wyndham Rewards® Business, a B2B extension of Wyndham's top-rated rewards program. Designed to simplify travel for business of all sizes, the re-imagined program offers rich savings and rewards, streamlined billing, membership upgrades, easy point management and more.
- Created new opportunities for its BOLD® by Wyndham and Women Own the RoomSM members—promoting industry mentorship via Accelerator Circle and unlocking third-party financing solutions via investment firm Lafayette Square. Together, BOLD and Women Own the Room have resulted in more than 100 deals with nearly 40 hotels now open.
Championing the Everyday Traveler
Further advancing its mission of making hotel travel possible for all, Wyndham continued championing the everyday traveler in 2024, launching new initiatives that further elevate the guest experience. Among the highlights, the Company:
- Expanded its #1 ranked Wyndham Rewards program with new redemption offerings, bringing the total to more than 60,000 hotels, vacation club resorts and vacation rentals globally. No other major hotel rewards program offers members more places to redeem for stays.
- Unveiled Wyndham Travel Packages, a one-stop-shop allowing Wyndham Rewards members to book and earn points on hotels, flights, car rentals, airport transfers, and even activities, all-in-one-go via WyndhamRewards.com.
- Celebrated 50 Years of Super 8 with the debut of the brand's new Innov8te 2.0 room design, a limited time consumer promotion and a special anniversary sweepstakes. Super 8 is one of the world's largest economy hotel brands with over 2,600 locations.
- Re-imagined its consumer marketing, leveraging top-tier creative partners to deliver campaigns that hit the right travelers at the right time with unmatched relevance, including the launch of the Company's first-ever holiday campaign.
For more information about Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, including details on franchising opportunities, visit www.wyndhamdevelopment.com.
About Wyndham Hotels & Resorts
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:WH) is the world's largest hotel franchising company by the number of properties, with approximately 9,200 hotels across over 95 countries on six continents. Through its network of approximately 893,000 rooms appealing to the everyday traveler, Wyndham commands a leading presence in the economy and midscale segments of the lodging industry. The Company operates a portfolio of 25 hotel brands, including Super 8®, Days Inn®, Ramada®, Microtel®, La Quinta®, Baymont®, Wingate®, AmericInn®, Hawthorn Suites®, Trademark Collection® and Wyndham®. The Company's award-winning Wyndham Rewards loyalty program offers approximately 112 million enrolled members the opportunity to redeem points at thousands of hotels, vacation club resorts and vacation rentals globally. For more information, visit wyndhamhotels.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements related to Wyndham's current views and expectations with respect to future growth opportunities and strategies and travel trends. Forward-looking statements are any statements other than statements of historical fact, including those that convey management's expectations as to the future based on plans, estimates and projections at the time Wyndham makes the statements and may be identified by words such as "will," "expect," "believe," "plan," "anticipate," "predict," "intend," "goal," "future," "forward," "remain," "outlook," "guidance," "target," "objective," "estimate," "projection" and similar words or expressions, including the negative version of such words and expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Wyndham to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, without limitation, general economic conditions, including inflation, higher interest rates and potential recessionary pressures; global or regional health crises or pandemics including the resulting impact on Wyndham's business, operations, financial results, cash flows and liquidity, as well as the impact on its franchisees, guests and team members, the hospitality industry and overall demand for and restrictions on travel; the performance of the financial and credit markets; the economic environment for the hospitality industry; operating risks associated with the hotel franchising business; Wyndham's relationships with franchisees; the impact of war, terrorist activity, political instability or political strife, including the ongoing conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East, respectively; Wyndham's ability to satisfy obligations and agreements under its outstanding indebtedness, including the payment of principal and interest and compliance with the covenants thereunder; risks related to Wyndham's ability to obtain financing and the terms of such financing, including access to liquidity and capital; and Wyndham's ability to make or pay, plans for and the timing and amount of any future share repurchases and/or dividends, as well as the risks described in Wyndham's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and any subsequent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These risks and uncertainties are not the only ones Wyndham may face and additional risks may arise or become material in the future. Wyndham undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, subsequent events or otherwise, except as required by law.
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