zurück zur Übersicht

05.01.2017

Best Western Hotels & Resorts

BW Announces Ron Pohl’s Promotion to SVP and COO

Best Western® Hotels & Resorts’ announced today the promotion of Ron Pohl to Senior Vice President and Chief Operations Officer. Pohl’s promotion comes at the end of a historic year for the iconic brand, celebrating 70 years of providing quality care for its guests, rolling out a new breakfast program, launching a global responsive site, and achieving record-setting results in RevPAR.

Phoenix, Arizona (December 28, 2016). Best Western® Hotels & Resorts’ announced today the promotion of Ron Pohl to Senior Vice President and Chief Operations Officer. Pohl’s promotion comes at the end of a historic year for the iconic brand, celebrating 70 years of providing quality care for its guests, rolling out a new breakfast program, launching a global responsive site, and achieving record-setting results in RevPAR.

“Since joining Best Western in early 2007, as a leader with strategic vision, Ron has tremendously improved the member services and brand management functions of Best Western,” said Best Western Hotels & Resorts President and CEO David Kong. “His many accomplishments include achieving record high RevPAR Index, the brand’s best Net Promoter Scores, as well as the highest Medallia scores in the areas of breakfast, service and overall experience. He is an integral member of the Executive Committee who has helped lead this company to previously unimaginable achievements on a global level.”

Pohl serves on the company’s executive committee and leads the brand’s operations and development efforts for North America and Asia. Pohl’s responsibilities include overseeing key departments within the hotel company, including Customer Care, Member Services, Revenue® Management, Education and Training, Design, Supply, and Global Quality Assurance. He was instrumental in repositioning the three core brands, Best Western®, Best Western Plus® and Best Western Premier® as well as launching the newest brands: Vīb®, Glō℠, BW Premier Collection® and the SureStay℠ Hotel Group. During his tenure with the brand, Pohl has significantly improved revenue management systems, implemented new and innovative education and training resources and launched the industry-leading Best Western I Care® program.

Pohl also created Best Western International University – Best Western’s online education website for hotel staff and corporate employees – which includes a partnership using AHLEI courses and certifications, Rosetta-stone and the University of Phoenix. During the past year, 1,953 Best Western employees representing more than 1,800 properties earned the Certified Front Desk Manager (CFDM) from AHLEI. The company will offer three additional online training and certification programs targeting additional professional positions.

In addition, under Pohl’s leadership, Best Western® Hotels and Resorts has been awarded a silver award from the Brandon Hall Group for a ground-breaking customer service training program called I Care®, Every Guest Every Time. A key feature of this innovative program includes a live hospitality virtual reality (“VR”) simulator that enables front desk, housekeeping, maintenance, and breakfast staff to practice and develop their interpersonal and guest communication skills in realistic, lifelike scenarios.

Earlier this year, Pohl was awarded the 2016 American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute’s Arthur Landstreet Award. Named after the Tennessee hotelier who founded the Educational Institute, the Arthur Landstreet award is presented to the individual who has made a lasting impact on the quality of professional development and training in the hospitality industry. Best Western Hotels & Resorts President & CEO David Kong earned the award in 2012.

Pohl demonstrates a passion for promoting hospitality studies and empowering the next generation of industry professionals and serves on the Advisory Board for Grand Canyon University, partnering with the University on the promotion of its new Hospitality College.

About Best Western Hotels & Resorts:

Best Western Hotels & Resorts headquartered in Phoenix, Ariz., is a privately held hotel brand with a global network of more than 4,000 hotels in more than 90 countries worldwide. Best Western Hotels Central Europe (BWHCE) headquartered in Eschborn / Germany is in charge of approximately 230 hotels in ten countries: Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland. In addition to its German headquarter in Eschborn there are regional offices in Vienna and Bern. All city and resort hotels of Best Western guarantee uniform and consistent quality standards worldwide and still keep their individual styles and their entrepreneurial independence. As a membership association all Best Western hotels are independently owned and operated. Best Western offers seven hotel brands to suit the needs of developers and guests in every market: BEST WESTERN^®, BEST WESTERN PLUS^®, BEST WESTERN PREMIER^®, EXECUTIVE RESIDENCY®, Vīb®, BW Premier Collection® and GLō.

As a service partner Best Western pursues to increase the profitability, success and competitiveness of their member hotels. Best Western Hotels maintain their independence while locking in all the advantages of the world's largest lodging affiliation. Member hotels benefit from a powerful global brand with full-service support and comprehensive marketing and sales activities for all relevant market segments and target groups. All hotels are optimally presented and bookable through all worldwide reservations and online booking channels. More than 27 million travelers are members of the brand’s award-winning loyalty program Best Western Rewards^®, one of the few programs in which members earn points that never expire and can be redeemed at any Best Western hotel worldwide. More information: www.bestwestern.de and www.bestwestern.com

For further information please contact:

Best Western Hotels Central Europe GmbH
Austria | Croatia | Czech Republic | Germany | Hungary | Liechtenstein | Luxemburg | Slovakia | Slovenia | Switzerland

Anke Cimbal, Director of Corporate Communications

Frankfurter Strasse 10-14, 65760 Eschborn, Germany
Tel: +49 (0) 6196 - 47 24 301, Fax: -129
Email: anke.cimbal@bestwestern.de

Websites www.bestwestern.de, www.bestwestern.de/presse

Pressemitteilung herunterladen (PDF)
Bild herunterladen