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Choice Hotels Plans to Close Mesa County, Colorado Call Center

By Tracey E. Schelmetic
TMCnet Contributor

Hotel chain Choice Hotels will soon be about 120 call center agents lighter.

Call center agents at the Choice Hotels call center in Grand Junction, CO, located in Mesa County, were recently informed that the company plans to close the facility in which they work and move the center to Phoenix, Arizona.

Choice Hotels says that while the Mesa call center traditionally handled up to 4.5 million customer reservation calls each year, that number has been steadily declining, prompting this subsequent closure.

To ensure that gaps in coverage remain filled, Choice Hotels says it will be moving approximately two dozen positions to the Phoenix facility. Some of the 120 call center employees whose jobs are being offloaded will be offered the option to transfer, according to CBS Denver.

 According to the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, about 40 call center workers who currently work from home will be offered jobs with a new company.

Most of the call center employees, however, will be let go. To blame for the drop in calls may be the rise of self-booking on the Internet by travelers. Choice Hotels spokeswoman Robin Pence referenced the “changing dynamics of the industry” in making the decision to close the Grand Junction operation, according to the Grand Junction Sentinel.

“People are booking their travel-related needs – whether it be booking a reservation or checking on their points for their rewards programs – online and on mobile devices,” Pence said. “That’s really the driver – adapting our business model to align with those changing behaviors.”

Choice Hotels International is a hospitality holding corporation affiliated with several hotel brands, and is based in Silver Spring, Maryland. The company owns the hotel brands Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality Inn, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites, Mainstay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, Econo Lodge, Rodeway Inn and Ascend Collection.