Choice Hotels Trent Fraser and Matt Taylor

Choice Hotels Australasia unveiled a new direction and positioning of the Choice Hotels brand in the market, with a new logo and the tag ‘Asia-Pac’ replacing Australasia in its name.

A result of the global rebrand that was launched by Choice Hotels International, Inc. earlier this year, the new Choice Hotels centres on ensuring all guests and franchisees are always made to feel welcome, wanted and respected.

Choice Hotels Asia-Pac Chief Executive Officer, Trent Fraser, is excited to launch the new brand in this region after two years of research and development by Choice Hotels International.

He said to better reflect the scope of Choice Hotels and its expansion plans in this region, and the increasing influence that Asian travellers are having on this market, the company will now be known as Choice Hotels Asia-Pac instead of Choice Hotels Australasia.

“This new brand is all about encouraging less online and virtual interaction and more face to face connections, and for our business guests our brand is about people pressing palms instead of always pressing send,” Fraser said.

Choice Hotels Asia-Pac General Manager of Marketing, Matt Taylor, said: “Most hotel companies have traditionally focused on promoting beautiful destinations, but what we’ve realised is that people don’t just travel to visit a destination, they travel to connect with other people.”

“This new direction focuses on the reasons why each guest is travelling in the first place and why we are an important part of that experience. Our new tag line – You Always have a Choice, is the epitome of this and will form the basis of the new brand voice,” Taylor said.

With the new brand also comes a new visual identity and logo.

“Visually the new identity is more appealing to a larger variety of customer segments and as we head into the future, research has told us that the new face of our customers – the Millennials, will strongly connect with this new brand,” Fraser said.

The launch of the new brand will be supported with an integrated marketing approach, with the company launching a series of new TVCs and online videos, new strategic partnerships, and focus on digital and social media.

James Wilkinson

Editor-In-Chief, Hotel Management