The international hotel franchisor is supercharging its senior team to facilitate further growth.
Choice Hotels International, Inc., one of the world’s largest hotel franchisors with more than 7,100 properties across 40 countries, has appointed four new leadership positions to advance the company’s corporate priorities and drive ongoing growth.
Scott Oaksmith will now assume the role of senior vice president of real estate and finance, having first joined the Choice Hotels brand in 2002. In this role, he will lead several strategic areas of the company, including real estate investment and asset management, as well as the company’s treasury operations.
In his new role, Oaksmith will work closely with Choice Hotels’ franchise development and brand teams to accelerate growth trajectory, and will assume oversight of the brand’s business intelligence group, where he will oversee company data analytics initiatives and promote a culture of informed decision making.
Raul Ramirez has been promoted to senior vice president, head of international and strategic & financial planning, having previously assumed the role of senior vice president of international strategic planning and global head of financial planning and analysis.
Ramirez will assume leadership for all aspects of Choice’s international division, including building the overall strategic direction and expansion of the company’s international operations.
Elizabeth Redmond has been promoted to chief accounting officer, where she will be responsible for the company’s financial reporting requirements and transforming several of the company’s critical functions, including corporate accounting, domestic and international accounting operations, financial reporting and accounting policy, and real estate accounting.
She first joined the brand in 2007, and has since been instrumental in Choice Hotels’ reengineering efforts and internal control structures and procedures.
John Lancaster is last but certainly not least, as he moves into the newly created position of regional vice president, emerging markets, franchise development and owner relationships. In this role, Lancaster will lead Choice’s efforts to extend the opportunity of hotel ownership to underrepresented populations through the company’s one-of-a-kind emerging markets franchise development program.
Lancaster will also lead the company’s reinstitution of an owners’ council specifically intended to represent and provide continued support and advocacy for these unrepresented hoteliers.
