The success of Ascend and Cambria further validates the company's strategic focus on growing this revenue-intense segment

Choice Hotels International's upscale brands, the Ascend Hotel Collection and Cambria Hotels, achieved an impressive domestic room count growth of 24 per cent year-over-year and outperformed local competitors in RevPAR share gains by 12 and 14 percentage points respectively in the first half of 2021. The success of Ascend, a global portfolio of resort, boutique and historic hotels, and Cambria, designed for modern travelers with a distinct local experience, further validates the company's strategic focus on growing this revenue-intense segment.

"With Americans rediscovering domestic destinations and the continued return to travel, as well as the trend of work from anywhere, guests are increasingly turning to Ascend and Cambria, thanks to their uniquely local experience and upscale amenities that allow for exploration. As a result, our upscale brands are outperforming the local competition at record levels," said Janis Cannon, senior vice president, upscale brands, Choice Hotels. In addition to the brands' performance strength compared to the competition, both Ascend and Cambria have continued to expand,” said Janis Cannon, senior vice president, upscale brands, Choice Hotels. 

Choice's upscale brands experienced several notable achievements in the first half of the year in which Ascend Hotel Collection outperformed the upscale segment in RevPAR change by nearly 26 percentage points in the second quarter compared to 2019, while achieving RevPAR share gains of 12 percentage points against local competitors compared to the first half of 2019. In addition, July RevPAR increased 17.7 per cent, driven by an increase in average daily rate of 20.7 per cent as compared to 2019.

Cambria Hotels achieved its strongest RevPAR Index in the brands' history with a gain of nearly 15 percentage points against local competitors in the first half of the year, compared to 2019. Through June, the brand's RevPAR Index change exceeded local competitors in 14 of the previous 15 months. In addition, the brand grew its unit portfolio size by 14 per cent to 58 hotels, and there were 17 projects under active construction at the end of June.

Both Ascend and Cambria led their local competitors in occupancy and average daily rate in the first half of the year. Combined, these brands set a record for upscale domestic openings in the first half of the year, including 22 properties added as part of the company's strategic alliance with Penn National Gaming.