Dorothy Dowling, centre, with Alison Hermansen of CAA and Chris Robinson of Chris Robinson Travel Show at the annual Best Western Leisure Travel Summit Luncheon held in Toronto.
TORONTO-Best Western properties straddle the entire middle market, and its new descriptor strategy will help clear up the differences between high, middle and lower mid-market properties, said Dorothy Dowling, senior vice president marketing and sales, who was in Toronto recently to participate in the company's Annual Leisure Travel Summit Luncheon.
The advantages are that they help customers understand what they're going to get before they arrive.
Best Western followed the CAA/AAA rating system in determining the three descriptor categories.
"Best Western" is the category for Two Diamond properties; "Best Western Plus" for Three Diamond hotels; and "Best Western Premier" for Three Diamond-plus lodgings.
The launch date for the descriptor strategy is February 2011, and it will be rolled out simultaneously in Canada and the U.S.
Dowling praised Best Western board chair Beth Campbell for her role in the descriptor strategy.
"Beth was a very, very significant leader in terms of presenting and supporting communications to membership at many, many townhall meetings in the U.S., Canada and North America," she said.
"Having a member speaking to the membership was a very powerful communication tool."
In addition to her role as board chair, Campbell is owner of the Best Western Inn in Penticton, BC.
"The descriptor strategy was 40 years in the making," said Dowling.
"We now have one Best Western marketing strategy to help customers understand the market the same way, and to show the choices in the Best Western family," she added.
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