ROCKVILLE, Md., Jan. 23, 2019 — Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH), one of the world's largest hotel franchisors, announced the promotion of Sonia Egyhazy to regional vice president of franchise development for Cambria Hotels.
"Choice Hotels' growth in the upscale segment is a top priority for the company, and the continued success of Cambria Hotels and the Ascend Hotel Collection is key to strengthening our foothold in the ever-growing upscale segment," said Mark Shalala, vice president, franchise development, upscale brands, Choice Hotels. "Cambria and Ascend have allowed us to expand our upscale footprint to meet guest and developer demand. We now have nearly 20,000 upscale rooms open in the U.S. and over 47,000 globally.
"Sonia has played an important role in the Cambria brand's expansion throughout the Mid-Atlantic having forged relationships with some of the industry's top developers. She has demonstrated a tremendous work ethic and a deep understanding of real estate, feasibility, development, and finance – all of which are critical to executing the Cambria growth strategy and success in her new role," continued Shalala.
Egyhazy previously served as director of franchise sales for Cambria in the Mid-Atlantic since 2015. In her new role, Egyhazy will manage the Cambria development team, supporting their efforts to source projects and execute new franchise agreements, and drive growth in targeted markets for the brand in the U.S.
In addition, Jake Fischer and Jeff Johnson have joined the company's upscale development teams, supporting Cambria Hotels and the Ascend Hotel Collection, respectively.
"Jeff and Jake bring nearly 40 years of combined experience in hospitality, real estate, development and sales, and we are thrilled to add their expertise to our development efforts in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions to fuel growth for the brands," said Shalala.
As the new Cambria director of franchise sales in the Mid-Atlantic, Fischer will assume Egyhazy's development responsibilities. Fischer started his career in operations for the Hyatt Hotels Corporation and, most recently, held the position of vice president of real estate and business development at The Hotel Group. Johnson returns to Choice Hotels as director of franchise development for the Ascend Hotel Collection in the Midwest. In his previous stint with the company, he held a variety of roles in sales. Throughout his career, he has also been a managing director and consultant at GRANT Hospitality, director of hotel commercial management at American Express Global Business Travel, and the director of sales for Wyndham International.
For more information on Choice Hotels and upscale development opportunities, visit choicehotelsdevelopment.com/.
