Choice Hotels International, Inc. Chief Commercial Officer Joshua Sloser didn’t set out to be a hotel executive; he just wanted to travel. It was that love of travel that prompted him to take a position at an airline reservation call center, mainly for the free flights. But, as he told LODGING, a funny thing happened to him in that job and those that followed due to what he called his superpower: “I’m curious about nearly everything, and I love trying new things.” He described how a combination of qualities—a desire to learn and do new things, understand how they work, and willingness to go where the new skills led—took him from customer service to revenue management, data analytics and technology, and hotel brand distribution, marketing, and commercial strategy.
Early Career
Sloser said he grew up in a home that modeled hospitality and a love of travel. “My parents loved to entertain at home, and they even tried to write a family travel guide before that was really a thing,” he recalled. Although the book didn’t succeed, their love of travel led their son to his first stop on the road to his current position. The job was not in hotels but with an airline, which afforded him the opportunity to travel and learn about what he quickly found to be an interesting business. “Working in the airline’s reservation center, I became fascinated by the complexity behind pricing and scheduling decisions. I’d see fares changing all the time and wonder why,” he recalled.
That curiosity brought him to the attention of an early mentor, Scott Kirby—now CEO of United Airlines—who hired him to work in revenue management. “I didn’t have a background in it, but I sought him out to understand how it worked,” he related. “I then learned and mastered the skills on the job and discovered I loved using technology to solve complex problems.”
Then, as they say, one thing led to another. His first move was to the startup online travel agency CheapTickets, which hired him to use his knowledge of airline revenue management to help them build tools like those used by airlines. After that, his first deep exposure to hospitality came when he moved to Travelocity, where his roles included analytics, marketing, product management, and technology, with a heavy focus on the hotel sector.
Move to Hotel Franchising
Sloser’s first move into brand leadership came with Hilton, where he spent nearly a decade in senior roles in marketing, digital, and e-commerce. While there, he got a sense of just how complex the industry was compared to the airlines and OTAs. “I thought hotels were slow to innovate until I got inside one and realized the unique challenges the industry encompasses,” said Sloser. “In airlines and OTAs, you have tight control over your environment, but in hotel franchising, where you’re trying to execute a vision, success depends on helping hundreds or thousands of owners—all of whom have their own objective—row in the same direction,” he explained. That, he learned, requires careful listening and patience. “You have to meaningfully engage with franchisees and understand their challenges, which includes learning to use emerging tools to solve meaningful business problems,” he said. The key to this, he maintained, calls for “building teams that can be both great listeners and great practitioners.”
Just prior to assuming his current position at Choice Hotels, Sloser spent five years in the quick-service restaurant industry, running the innovation portfolio for McDonald’s as global senior vice president, customer & commercial innovation. He was also responsible for leading the digital transformation of all customer- and restaurant-facing capabilities for their 43,000 restaurants across 110 countries.
Driving Performance at Choice
Now, as chief commercial officer at Choice, he oversees the levers that drive revenue and performance: digital channels including ChoiceHotels.com and mobile app, revenue management, distribution, customer care, and commercial strategy.
As Sloser described it, “My job at Choice is to help grow RevPAR, and also to make sure we’re giving our franchisees the capabilities they need to run a great business.” That, he said, means working collaboratively and cross-functionally to align efforts across the company—from technology to marketing—to delivering value for owners and guests alike. “I help to coordinate those efforts within the company to make sure that we’re hitting the right customers with the right price, at the right time, as well as getting the right capabilities out to our franchisees to help them be successful,” he asserted.
Looking back on his career so far, Sloser said, there’s nothing he would do differently. “I’m not like those people who identify a superpower earlier in their career and grow up in that discipline. I’ve worn many hats and worked in many different functions. My whole career, I picked up everything—revenue management, software development, analytics, and more—by making the effort to learn additional valuable skills.”
Summarizing this “method,” he said, “The thing that I’d say has been probably most important to me is always having an appetite to learn on the job, master that, then learn something else.” To do that while working in customer service, he made a point of seeking out people who worked in revenue management. “They taught me enough about it to give me the courage to apply and to get in the door,” he related. And when he got in that door, he made the most of it: “As a revenue manager, in particular, I really learned the craft while practicing it.” He said he also looked beyond what he learned to build tools that could make him more effective. “I especially focused on learning to use technology to do things differently and to innovate and to change the way people work, or experiences happen,” he said.
Mentors That Made a Difference
Sloser made a point of mentioning mentors, including Robert Isom, now CEO of American Airlines, from whom he learned the analytical and strategic underpinnings of pricing and capacity, and Kirby, who took a chance on him by hiring him from the customer side to work in revenue management. Family members also made a major difference in his life and career. They included his father, a small-business owner and entrepreneur who helped him navigate the franchise world, “where things were so complex and personal and called for lots of empathy.” And finally, there is his wife, whom he met in the travel industry. “She’s the pragmatist and my true north star; she knows what people want in their hotel room,” he said.
Sloser strongly encourages people to pursue their curiosity, which can lead to endless possibilities. “By embracing innovation, mastering diverse disciplines, and fostering cross-functional collaboration,” he noted, “I have adopted a leadership style rooted in exploration and adaptability.”
New Horizons
Asked what guidance he’d offer aspiring hospitality professionals, Choice Hotels International’s Chief Commercial Officer Joshua Sloser reminded people that his career was not a straight shot; it was mostly a byproduct of his desire to learn and do different things, often before he was prepared. “I wouldn’t change anything about the course of my career. Every role taught me something new,” he explained. “Sometimes it meant moving sideways instead of up—but every lens adds perspective. That’s what lets you see the whole picture.”
In addition, he offered the following tips:
- Never lose sight of the basics: That means great service, a clean room, and a warm welcome. Hospitality is still about human connection.
- Be curious, learn continuously: The world is changing fast—especially with technology and AI—and those who stay curious and willing to experiment will lead the way. “In a world with industries evolving at lightning speed, the willingness to ask ‘why’ and ‘what if’ can transform ordinary paths into extraordinary ones,” he reminded.
- Be a doer as well as a learner: Don’t just read about new tools; try them.
