Choice Hotels' Pat Pacious Named One Of 2019's Best CEOs

ROCKVILLE, Md., Dec. 12, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- As he begins his third year at the company's helm, Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH) President and CEO Pat Pacious has been named one of 2019's Best CEOs of large companies by Comparably, a workplace culture and compensation monitoring site. On the day the honor was announced, Choice Hotel's stock price reached an all-time high, surpassing $100 per share for the first time.

"This honor is made possible by our 1,700 associates across the globe, all of whom have contributed to taking Choice Hotels' business to new heights," said Pacious. "Together, we support our powerful network of 12,000 franchisees ? the majority of whom are small businesses owners ? in their efforts to serve their guests, employees, local communities, and families as they pursue their entrepreneurial dreams. This award is a reflection of our efforts to build a welcoming and respectful culture of inclusion."

Pacious has been Choice Hotels' president and CEO since September 2017. Throughout his nearly 15 years of leadership in increasingly senior roles at Choice, Pacious has led enterprise-wide technology transformation initiatives, revitalized legacy brands, launched new brands, and acquired a brand that is the fastest growing in its segment. In 2018, Choice Hotels reported over $1 billion in revenue; exceeded 7,000 hotels in its global system; expanded its pipeline to over 1,000 hotels, the largest in company history; and drove an increase in the company's 10-year total shareholder return to 278 percent.

Among Choice associates, Pacious' focus has been centered around the creation of an inclusive and performance-based corporate culture. The company has been recognized as a best-in-class employer by several groups since Pacious took the reins as CEO. Recent company accolades include:

• 2019 Top Workplaces by The Washington Post.
• 2019 Best Mid-Size Employers in America by Forbes.
• 2019 Best Employers for New Grads by Forbes.
• 2019 Best Employers for Diversity by Forbes.
• 2019 Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality by the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index.
• 2019 Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion by the Disability Equality Index.

Comparably determined this year's Best CEOs through ratings anonymously provided by employees. The final data set was compiled from nearly 10 million ratings across 50,000 U.S. companies on Comparably.com.

"The best executives not only possess strong leadership skills that drive business objectives, they are transparent and personally engaged with their teams," said Comparably CEO Jason Nazar. "The outstanding leaders on our annual Best CEOs list have these attributes and more, according to employee sentiment on Comparably.com within the last year."

Pacious served as a U.S. Navy officer after earning his bachelor's degree from Duke University and went on to earn a master's in business administration from Northwestern's Kellogg Graduate School of Management. He is currently a member of the board of directors of the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts. In 2019, Pacious received the Washington Business Journal's Veterans in Business Award for his work to support other veterans in the workplace and beyond.

For information about Choice Hotels' leadership, visit media.choicehotels.com/our-leadership.

About Choice Hotels
Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH) is one of the largest lodging franchisors in the world. With more than 7,000 hotels, representing nearly 575,000 rooms, in over 40 countries and territories as of September 30, 2019, the Choice® family of hotel brands provides business and leisure travelers with a range of high-quality lodging options from limited-service to full-service hotels in the upscale, midscale, extended stay and economy segments. The award-winning Choice Privileges® loyalty program offers members benefits ranging from everyday rewards to exceptional experiences. For more information, visit www.choicehotels.com.

About Comparably
Comparably is a workplace culture and compensation monitoring site with a mission to provide more transparent and rewarding workplaces. Employees can access salary data and rate their companies, CEOs, and work experiences through the lens of specific demographics including gender, ethnicity, age, tenure, industry, location, and education. With nearly 10 million ratings from employees at over 50,000 U.S. companies, Comparably has become one of the most used SaaS solutions for employer branding and trusted third party sites for salary and workplace culture data. For more information on Comparably, go to www.comparably.com. For highly-cited workplace culture and compensation studies, including Comparably's annual Workplace Culture Awards, log onto www.comparably.com/blog.

© 2019 Choice Hotels International, Inc. All rights reserved.

SOURCE Choice Hotels International, Inc.