Newly created role to advance company’s data-driven culture.
ROCKVILLE, MD. – Choice Hotels International, Inc. has appointed Vikas Bhalla to the newly created role of chief transformation officer.
As a key member of Choice Hotels' senior executive leadership team reporting directly to President and Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pacious, Bhalla will advance the company's data-driven culture and lead the corporate strategy, business transformation, and data analytics teams. In addition to identifying new business opportunities, Bhalla will work closely with Pacious to develop strategies that fuel the company's long-range growth.
"After an extensive search, we're confident Vikas is the right leader to help position our brands and offerings to appeal to the customer of the future, while expanding the profitability driven by Choice's platform business," said Pacious. "As the chief transformation officer, Vikas will further advance our culture of data-informed decision-making, which is core to our business strategy and will remain so in the years ahead."
Bhalla has more than 20 years of experience shaping business strategies for large corporations. He joins Choice Hotels from CVS Health, one of the nation's premier health innovation companies, where he served as vice president, strategy and business development, pricing and analytics. In this capacity, Bhalla was CVS's core retail strategist, driving both identification & execution of the company's multi-year growth initiatives across 8,000 locations and e-commerce. Prior to that, Bhalla led several large-scale transformation projects as a principal at Strategy&, now the global strategy consulting business for PwC. Bhalla also was a member of the leadership team at startup technology company Exela Technologies.
"Choice Hotels is an industry leader with an exciting, long-term vision for the future," said Bhalla. "I am honored to join this highly effective leadership team and look forward to bringing a fresh perspective on the power of data analytics and customer-centric innovation to advance Choice's growth strategy, especially as it relates to deepening the company's relationship with guests."
Bhalla earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in electronics engineering from Nagpur University in India. He will be based at Choice Hotels' Rockville, Maryland, headquarters.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
