Bevan Springer
NEW YORK – Hotel executive Brian Parker, the powerful African American who from behind the scenes has led efforts to increase Choice Hotels’ presence across the Caribbean region, including the earthquake-ravaged Caribbean nation of Haiti, has chalked up yet another accolade.
Choice’s vice president of emerging markets and new business development was named to Savoy magazine’s “Top 100 Most Influential Blacks in Corporate America” and will be featured in the magazine’s Spring 2010 issue which highlights extraordinary professionals and entrepreneurs who lead by example, serve as role models to inspire future leaders and empower others within corporate America. Parker was selected among this year’s honorees because of his position with Choice Hotels and his commitment to the community.
Brian Parker of Choice Hotels International
These awards are not uncommon for the towering executive who was previously included on Black Enterprise magazine’s “Hot List of America’s Most Powerful Players Under 40” twice, Black Professionals Magazine’s list of the “Top 100 Blacks in Corporate America,” Black Meetings and Tourism magazine’s “Top Blacks in Lodging” and Hotel & Motel Management magazine’s “Leaders Of Tomorrow.” Travel Agent magazine once named him one of the 100 Rising Stars in the travel industry. He has also been featured in USA Today, The New York Times, Diversity Inc., Lodging Hospitality, Street and Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal and Equal Opportunity Magazine.
At Choice Hotels, Parker leads the emerging markets and new business development franchise sales efforts, identifying and recruiting qualified entrepreneurs and developers from outside the lodging industry. He is also responsible for leading the company’s Caribbean franchise development efforts and diversifying the company’s franchisee base by recruiting successful US minority and Caribbean entrepreneurs to become owners of Choice brand hotels.
“Growing our footprint globally is a top organizational priority and the Caribbean is a market that has tremendous potential for our brands,” said Brian Parker, who noted he was “very honored to have been selected for recognition among such a competitive group of professionals who are all working to make a positive impact within the corporate world and for the leaders of tomorrow.
Parker joined Choice Hotels in 1998 as a strategic planning analyst where he was responsible for developing new marketing strategies and analyzing existing ones to enhance brand performance and create a competitive advantage. He was later promoted to project manager of business development and identified the sports industry as an untapped multi-billion dollar market. He served as Choice Hotels’ director of sports marketing and sales, developing and managing all sports marketing and sales activities and establishing strategic alliances and sponsorships with various sports leagues and associations. Through his leadership, Choice Hotels launched the lodging industry’s first web site dedicated exclusively for sports travel and became the “Official Hotel Partner Of Little League Baseball”.
A popular speaker on entrepreneurial development, Parker earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing from Delaware State University.
Bevan Springer
Bevan Springer, a New York Amsterdam News columnist who writes frequently on travel and tourism issues, is the President of the New Jersey-headquartered Marketplace Excellence LLC – a full-service, integrated mass communications agency committed to excellence in the fields of public relations, marketing and media coaching. He also produces the Caribbean Media Exchange on Sustainable Tourism – CMEx.
