BW Surpasses Guest Expectations Yet Again

5/24/2016

Best Western Hotels & Resorts Surpass Guest Expectations Yet Again

BW Properties Receive Record Number of TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence Awards

PHOENIX (May 24, 2016) – Best Western® Hotels & Resorts announced today that 1,849 Best Western hotels globally received the 2016 TripAdvisor® Certificate of Excellence recognition. Now in its sixth year, the Certificate of Excellence celebrates hospitality businesses that have earned great traveler reviews on TripAdvisor over the past year and continually deliver a quality customer experience.

The number of Best Western hotels that have received the recognition has increased by 34 percent since 2013. In North America, 1,181 Best Western properties received a Certificate of Excellence this year, which includes 1,061 Best Western hotels in the U.S. and 120 hotels in Canada. Overall, nearly 60 percent of the brand’s North American hotels have received this honor and 2/3 of this year’s recipients have achieved the recognition three years consecutively.

As the world’s largest travel site, millions of customers choose TripAdvisor to share reviews on hotels, eateries and attractions located all over the world. Understanding the importance of the voice of the customer, Best Western was one of the first hotel brands to incorporate TripAdvisor traveler ratings and reviews directly on to its property websites.

The Certificate of Excellence takes into account the quality and quantity of reviews submitted by travelers on TripAdvisor over a 12-month period. To qualify, a business must maintain an overall TripAdvisor bubble rating of at least four out of five, have a minimum number of reviews and must have been listed on TripAdvisor for at least 12 months.

“We are honored that so many of our properties have again been recognized by TripAdvisor with this prestigious achievement. TripAdvisor represents the voice of the customer—so this recognition demonstrates and validates our brand’s commitment to providing superior customer care,” said Dorothy Dowling, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Best Western Hotels & Resorts. “With the launch of our recent brand refresh, which introduced new logos, new hotel offerings and over two billion dollars in property investments, Best Western has been on a journey listening to customer feedback and meeting the needs of our guests. These tremendous certificates reinforce that we have truly become Today’s Best Western for Today’s Traveler.”

“With the Certificate of Excellence, TripAdvisor honors hospitality businesses that have consistently received strong praise and ratings from travelers,” said Heather Leisman, Vice President of Industry Marketing, TripAdvisor. “This recognition helps travelers identify and book properties that regularly deliver great service. TripAdvisor is proud to play this integral role in helping travelers feel more confident in their booking decisions.”

About Best Western Hotels & Resorts:
Best Western® Hotels & Resorts headquartered in Phoenix, Ariz., is a privately held hotel brand with a global network of 4,100* hotels in more than 100* countries and territories worldwide. Best Western offers seven hotel brands to suit the needs of developers and guests in every market: Best Western®, Best Western Plus®, Best Western Premier®, Executive Residency by Best Western℠, Vīb ®, BW Premier Collection® and GLō℠. Now celebrating 70 years of hospitality, Best Western provides its hoteliers with global operational, sales and marketing support, and online and mobile booking capabilities. More than 26 million travelers are members of the brand’s award-winning loyalty program Best Western Rewards®, one of the few programs in which members earn points that never expire and can be redeemed at any Best Western hotel worldwide. The brand’s partnerships with AAA/CAA, Minor League Baseball, and Harley-Davidson® provide travelers with exciting ways to interact with the brand. Best Western continues to set industry records regarding awards and accolades, including Business Travel News naming Best Western as the best midscale hotel brand in 2014 and Best Western Plus as the best upper mid-price hotel brand in 2014 and 2015, four consecutive Compuware Best of the Web gold awards for best hotel website, and seven consecutive AAA/CAA Hotel Partner of the Year awards. Nearly sixty percent of Best Western branded hotels earned a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence award in 2015.
* Numbers are approximate, may fluctuate, and include hotels currently in the development pipeline.

About TripAdvisor:
TripAdvisor® is the world’s largest travel site*, enabling travelers to plan and book the perfect trip. TripAdvisor offers advice from millions of travelers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features with seamless links to booking tools that check hundreds of websites to find the best hotel prices. TripAdvisor branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, reaching 340 million unique monthly visitors**, and 350 million reviews and opinions covering 6.5 million accommodations, restaurants and attractions. The sites operate in 48 markets worldwide.

*Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor Sites, worldwide, February 2016

**Source: TripAdvisor log files, Q1 2016