Choice Hotels International Receives Gomez Best of the Web 2010 Silver Award for ChoiceHotels.com Website Performance

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Apr 20, 2011, 09:59 ET

SILVER SPRING, Md., April 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading worldwide lodging franchisor Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH) was recently named a Gomez Best of the Web 2010 Silver Award winner in the Travel - Hotels category by technology performance company Compuware for its ChoiceHotels.com website performance.

"Consumers love the experience they get at ChoiceHotels.com, which is the lowest-cost, highest-revenue-producing channel for our franchisees," said Patrick Pacious, executive vice president of global strategy, distribution and technology for Choice Hotels. "We're passionate about providing a consistently fast, reliable, and informative website that simplifies the hotel reservation process. The Gomez platform has been extremely beneficial in revealing key insights on site performance so that we continue to deliver a positive experience to customers. We're honored to be a Gomez Best of the Web 2010 award winner!"

The second annual Gomez Best of the Web annual awards recognizes the outstanding Web and mobile site performance of leading companies during 2010. The awards showcase the leaders in Web and mobile site performance across six industries and highlight the leaders who provide superior Web and mobile site experiences that enhance customer loyalty, reduce costs and increase revenue.

According to the Best of the Web 2010: Compuware Gomez Web and Mobile Performance Awards comprehensive report, online travel spending grew 6 percent in 2010 to reach $85.2 billion. Among other findings:

The [travel] industry continues to evolve how it leverages the online channel. These changes are being driven by younger consumers, those in Generation Y, who travel more, make more travel purchases online and have less patience for technology problems. As an example of the generation difference of online behavior, a consumer survey found that:

Sixty-five percent of 18 to 24 year olds expect a site to load faster than the older demographics -- in two seconds or less.
Only six percent of 18 to 24 year olds expect to wait four seconds or more for a page to load;
Whereas, a third of seniors expect to wait four seconds or longer.

The 2010 winners in each industry -- retail, financial services, media, travel, healthcare and government -- were determined by measuring their Web and mobile sites across three key metrics -- response time, availability and consistency. Three website winners in each industry were awarded with Gold, Silver and Bronze awards.

Gomez Benchmarks provide valuable competitive and market leader insight into website performance. Published for the last decade, more than 100 benchmarks are based on over 20 million monthly tests using the Gomez Global Network of 150 high-bandwidth "backbone" locations, and 150,000 "Last Mile" desktop computers.

Compuware Corporation

Compuware Corporation, the technology performance company, provides software, experts and best practices to ensure technology works well and delivers value. Compuware solutions make the world's most important technologies perform at their best for leading organizations worldwide, including 46 of the top 50 Fortune 500 companies and 12 of the top 20 most visited U.S. web sites. Learn more at: http://www.compuware.com.

About Choice Hotels

Choice Hotels International, Inc. franchises more than 6,100 hotels, representing more than 495,000 rooms, in the United States and more than 30 other countries and territories. As of December 31, 2010, more than 500 hotels were under construction, awaiting conversion or approved for development in the United States, representing more than 40,000 rooms, and more than 100 hotels, representing approximately 9,000 rooms, are under construction, awaiting conversion or approved for development in 18 other countries and territories. The company's Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites, MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, Econo Lodge and Rodeway Inn brands serve guests worldwide. In addition, via its Ascend Collection membership program, travelers in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean have upscale lodging options at historic, boutique and unique hotels.

Additional corporate information may be found on the Choice Hotels International, Inc. Web site, which may be accessed at www.choicehotels.com.

Choice Hotels, Choice Hotels International, Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites, MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, Econo Lodge, Rodeway Inn and Ascend Collection are proprietary trademarks and service marks of Choice Hotels International.

SOURCE Choice Hotels International, Inc.