Dorothy Dowling Honored as 2018 GBTA Allied Member of the Year

Dorothy Dowling, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Best Western Hotels & Resorts has been named the 2018 Allied Member of the  Year by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) – the world’s largest professional association and a leading source of business travel knowledge. This prestigious award recognizes a GBTA Allied (travel supplier) Member who has contributed to the continued growth and knowledge of the business travel industry.

Serving as the Vice President of GBTA’s Allied Leadership Council since 2013, Dowling was celebrated for her tremendous leadership and active involvement, which have helped address common issues in the travel sector and drive positive change.

“Dorothy is an outstanding member of our executive team, not only because of her steadfast commitment to the Best Western brand, but the travel industry at large,” said David Kong, President and CEO for Best Western Hotels & Resorts. “This award recognition from GBTA is a reflection of her valued partnership as an industry leader and her passion for enhancing the future of business travel.”

Dowling was honored with the award this week at GBTA’s annual Convention in San Diego, California. The event is the largest gathering of business travel professionals in the world, as thousands of leaders from across the travel market come together to share new practices, policies and solutions to the industry’s greatest issues.

“It is truly an honor to receive GBTA’s 2018 Allied Member of the Year Award,” said Dowling. “It is incredibly rewarding to share my insights and serve as a voice for the travel supplier community, and at the same time, gain a wealth of knowledge from GBTA’s esteemed network of professionals who remain at the forefront of all things business travel.”

While Dowling has made her impact as a GBTA Allied Member, she has also contributed greatly to the success of the Best Western brand. Some of Dowling’s notable accomplishments at Best Western include:

• Building an award-winning partnership with AAA^®/CAA^®  (9X Partner of the Year);
• Helping drive Best Western’s $2 billion brand refresh – which revealed a re-energized and contemporary image for the 72-year-old brand;
• Driving the Best Western Rewards^® refresh, helping increase membership to over 35 million and providing guests with one of the richest hotel loyalty programs in the industry;
• BWR earning a top five ranking on U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hotel Rewards Programs list for six consecutive years;
• Leading business activation of global distribution partnerships;
• Developing award-winning promotions with Disney^® Media Group;
• Becoming a first mover by partnering with Google^® Street View and leveraging Virtual Reality technology to showcase Best Western’s $2 billion brand refresh, resulting in Fast Company recognizing BW in the Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in the AR/VR category;
• Best Western Plus^® and Best Western^® ranking number one in upper-mid-price and mid-price hotel brands in 2017 Hotel Chain Survey - marking the brand’s fourth consecutive year of being top ranked by the outlet’s readers;
• Launching You Must Be Trippin’ (YMBT) blog; and
• Launching a global group platform with HotelPlanner^®

 
About Best Western^® Hotels & Resorts:

Best Western Hotels & Resorts headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, is a privately held hotel brand with a global network of 4,200* hotels in more than 100* countries and territories worldwide. Best Western offers 11 hotel brands to suit the needs of developers and guests in every market: Best Western^®, Best Western Plus^®, Best Western Premier^®, Vīb^®, GLō^®, Executive Residency by Best Western^®, BW Premier Collection^® by Best Western, and BW Signature Collection^®by Best Western; as well as its recently launched franchise offerings: SureStay^® Hotel by Best Western, SureStay Plus^® Hotel by Best Western and SureStay Collection^® by Best Western. Now celebrating more than 70 years of hospitality, Best Western provides its hoteliers with global operational, sales and marketing support, and award-winning online and mobile booking capabilities. Best Western continues to set industry records regarding awards and accolades, including 66 percent of the brand’s North American hotels earning a TripAdvisor^® Certificate of Excellence award in 2018, Business Travel News^® ranking Best Western Plus and Best Western number one in upper-mid-price and mid-price hotel brands, and Fast Company honoring Best Western Hotels & Resorts with a spot in the Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in the Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality category. Best Western has also won nine consecutive AAA^®/CAA^® Lodging Partner of the Year awards, recognizing the brand’s commitment to providing exceptional service and great value to AAA/CAA’s nearly 58 million members in the U.S. and Canada. Best Western-branded hotels were top ranked in J.D. Power’s 2017 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study – ranking first in breakfast (food and beverage category) for midscale; and second in overall guest satisfaction. Over 35 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-branded hotel worldwide. Best Western’s partnerships with AAA/CAA and Google^® Street View provide travelers with exciting ways to interact with the brand. Through its partnership with Google Street View, Best Western is the first major company of its size and scale to launch a virtual reality experience for customers, setting a new industry standard and reinventing how guests view hotels.

* All Best Western and SureStay-branded hotels are independently owned and operated.

* Numbers are approximate, may fluctuate, and include hotels currently in the development pipeline.