By JAMES WILKINSON
Franchise powerhouse Choice Hotels Australasia is set to offer hotel management services for the first time following the signing of an agreement this week (Aug 2) with Australian-owned Lancemore Group.
Choice Hotels Australasia’s (CHA) Chief Executive Officer Trent Fraser said the announcement means hotel owners and investors franchised with Choice now have the option of outsourcing the management of the properties.
“Choice Hotels Australasia is excited to be able to work with the Lancemore Group to now provide a one stop shop for hotel management services, global branding, distribution, sales and marketing,” he said.
“We see our new relationship as a great opportunity for independent or institutional property owners or investors to leverage off the established network of over 270 Choice Hotels properties in this region and the long established, service oriented, family-owned and operated management company which Lancemore Group brings to the table.”
Fraser said he was expecting the new deal to significantly grow Choice’s portfolio across Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.
“We believe there is strong demand for existing owners of hotel assets to consider a more personalized approach to the management of their properties and with the Lancemore Group we can now certainly provide that,” he said.
Lancemore Group owns and operates four regional Victorian properties and the company’s CEO Julian Clark said he was looking forward to working with Choice.
“The Lancemore Group is thrilled to be able to work with Choice Hotels Australasia in providing this exciting proposition and offering owners a viable alternative to straight management agreements,” he said.
“We recently decided to expand our hotel management offering into management in conjunction with a franchise agreement as it is a globally proven model that is rarely employed in Australia.
“This is a separate business from our current boutique hotel and conference hotel offerings and we see significant growth in this model moving forward. The power of this relationship is that it is a win for all stakeholders,” he said.