Part of Janis Cannon’s first weeks on the job included hanging out in hotel lobbies. But she wasn’t just passing the time. Choice Hotels International’s new senior vice president, upscale brands, was talking to guests, observing the action and doing research.
Cannon is charged with leading urban market development for Choice’s upscale brands, Cambria hotels & suites and the Ascend Hotel Collection, the company’s soft brand. She described her mandate in three words. Rooms: bringing more to the portfolio. Revenues: getting new properties to perform at maximum potential. And ramp: getting them there fast.
Cannon also used three words to describe Choice, which she joined in April from IHG. “The culture here is very much one that is built on family, familiarity and relationship,” Cannon said. “That allows you to make decisions very quickly, and it allows you to be nimble and have speed to market. There’s a lot of trust.”
Speed to market is key for Cambria, which has 47 hotels in its pipeline. “It’s the core component in terms of long-term strategy,” Cannon added. Four Cambrias in various stages of development in Canada are the platform for a global launch of the brand, although Cannon won’t say where beyond major capital markets.
“That’s the conversation we’re having now,” she said. “We want to make sure we have the platform, technology and infrastructure to support the hotels.” The proof of performance is coming, she added, from Cambria’s New York hotels—in Times Square and Chelsea.