by Larry Cuculic - President & CEO, BWH Hotel Group

My 20-years of service in the United States Army has taught me that being united toward a common purpose yields uncommon results. Whether our company or industry at large, to meet our potential and seize the challenges and opportunities before us, we must work collaboratively toward a shared goal.

At BWH Hotel Group, we have come together as a global hotel family to serve our guests, partners, and each other with a sense of shared responsibility. This includes creating new Vision and Mission statements that reflect our global reach and organizational values. We are dedicated to our new Vision of “Inspiring travel through unique experiences.” Also, we are passionate about fulfilling our Mission to “Deliver trusted guest experiences, drive hotel success, and foster a caring and inclusive culture that respects the environment.” These values are the cornerstone of our hotel family, a shared purpose that unifies our brands and hotel teams.

As a result of our being unified around common goals, we have experienced tremendous success in 2022. For example, we achieved the strongest revenue year in our company’s history. Additionally, we were thoughtful regarding expenses and continued our foundational commitment to financial stewardship. Consequently, we were able to return $15 million in fees to our members.

Throughout the year, we also focused on growing our presence globally. In recent years, we have been successful with our thoughtful approach to increasing our scale in key locations around the world. With the acquisition of WorldHotels in 2019, we expanded our global reach, while also adding brands in the upper upscale and luxury segments in key destinations. In addition, we have launched new brands that appeal to today’s travelers and developers, including boutique offerings like Vīb®, GLō®, and Aiden®. We are seeing a lot of potential for growth in Latin America and the Caribbean – in fact our Aiden brand will be arriving to the island of Curacao, and we just recently launched our WorldHotels brand in Brazil. I’m extremely proud of our diverse and contemporary portfolio. In 2023, we will remain committed to providing unique offerings and experiences that suit the needs of every type of traveler and developer.

Despite our strong performance as a brand and industry in 2022, I recognize that there are challenges, such as inflation and labor shortages, that may impact travel and hotel operations in 2023. However, we have learned after several challenging years that people love to travel. Travel has always been a common purpose, connecting people and places, and enriching our lives. I believe this shared love of travel will continue to drive our industry to success and, as a result, I am hopefully optimistic that 2023 will be another strong year for hospitality.