Skift: Going it Alone: Why Hotel Owners are Dropping the Big Brands

Robert Braun, Vice Chair of JMM’s Global Hospitality Group®, was recently quoted in the Skift article, “Going it Alone: Why Hotel Owners are Dropping the Big Brands.” The article examines the weakening of many advantages hotel franchise agreements were perceived to offer. This includes the territorial protections that once ran the full length of the contract but are turning out to be narrower, and more shorter-lived, than they once were

Braun told Skift that when a brand plans to open a competing hotel nearby, it commissions an impact study to gauge what the new property would do to the hotels already flying its flag. Braun told Skift he has read plenty of those studies and that they most often come out in favor of opening the property. “Those are usually done in such a way that you know exactly what the result is going to be,” he said.

Having spent decades negotiating hotel franchise agreements, Braun said the documents have only moved in one direction. “The franchise agreements today, every year they get a little tougher,” he told Skift, “for the owner.” He likened it to Vegas: “Oh, look, they changed the rules to really benefit the player? No. The only reason they make a change is because it’s better for the house.”

Read the full Skift article here (subscription required).