Dive Brief:
- Wyndham Hotels & Resorts announced more than 200 hotels are in the pipeline for its Echo Suites Extended Stay brand, which launched in 2022.
- Last year, Wyndham launched the extended stay brand and broke ground on its first three Echo Suites hotels, and nearly two dozen more are expected this year. The first will open by the end of this year, with additional hotels following in 2024.
- The planned openings align with the 2021 Infrastructure and Jobs Act and CHIPS and Science Act and are expected to help franchisees realize $3.3 billion in additional room revenue and generate more than $150 million in incremental royalties for the company, Wyndham projected in the press release.
Dive Insight:
The $1.2 trillion Infrastructure and Jobs Act passed in 2021 and the $280 billion CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 are providing development opportunities for hotels, including Wyndham’s Echo extended-stay brand.
That increased spend is expected to drive growing demand, which will benefit Echo Suites and other Wyndham brands, said Rob Myers, vice president of external communications at Wyndham for extended stay hotel accommodations.
Wyndham and its brands have already witnessed increased revenues related to the early stages of the Infrastructure and Jobs Act: According to the company, general infrastructure-related revenues were up more than 20% in Q4 2022, the seventh consecutive quarter of double-digit growth.
This dovetails with the rapid growth Echo Suites has experienced since the brand launched in early 2022. By September, Wyndham had 120 hotels in the Echo Suites pipeline, which has leapt to 200 within a year.
“By virtually every metric, Echo Suites is a phenomenal success, becoming not only the fastest-growing brand in our industry but the largest brand launch in the history of Wyndham,” said Chip Ohlsson, chief development officer of Wyndham. “Its rapid growth is a testament to the power that comes with the scale and resources of the world's largest hotel franchising company and what can happen when brands take the time to truly engage and understand the needs of the development community.”
Echo Suites is Wyndham's second extended-stay hotel brand. It acquired Hawthorn Suites in 2008.
