Choice Hotels International said Monday that interim CEO Dominic Dragisich now has the permanent president and CEO position.
Dominic Dragisich
Dragisich had been interim CEO since Patrick Pacious stepped down in May. Dragisich has been with Choice for nearly 10 years, previously serving as chief growth and strategy officer, chief global brand officer and executive vice president of operations. He was CFO between 2017 and 2023.
Prior to Monday's announcement, Dragisich on Aug. 5 spoke to analysts during the company's Q2 earnings call about his vision.
"Since stepping in, I spent most of my time listening to our franchisees and teams across the company," Dragisich said. "Those conversations have reinforced three priorities for me: staying close to our franchisees and the guests they serve, moving with greater urgency across the business and being disciplined about where we invest our time and capital."
Dragisich spoke of investments Choice has made in its commercial engine and technology platform -- investments that the company now needs to turn into "stronger operating performance, improved franchisee profitability, better guest experience and ultimately greater long-term shareholder value," he said.
Some of Choice's investments and opportunities detailed earlier this year include Business Direct, a self-service digital booking and travel management platform for small and midsized businesses; AI-enhanced request-for-proposals tools EasyBid and EasyBid Plus; and the integration of Amazon Web Services' AgentCore agentic AI platform across the enterprise.
Source: Business Travel News