David Kong

David Kong is a hospitality industry leader with deep experience in the industry. Since he was named president & CEO of Best Western International in 2004, Kong has led the company to its highest RevPAR Index of 110 the past three years as well as unprecedented performance in guest loyalty and hotel satisfaction. Best Western has nearly 4,200 hotels in over 110 countries with annual hotel revenue exceeding $6 billion. Kong is known in the industry as a strategic thinker and innovator. His comprehensive brand strategy includes initiatives such as stratifying the brand into three tiers, raising standards, launching new brands and establishing marketing partnerships with high profile organizations such as Harley-Davidson and Facebook. Under Kong's leadership, Best Western has set out to be a leader in the Internet, mobile and social media space. Compuware named bestwestern.com the best hotel website the past four years. In 2013, EyeForTravel named Best Western's mobile site as the industry's best, Travel Click named Best Western "E-Marketer of the Year" in 2012, 2013 and 2014, and L2 named Best Western the best in e-commerce in the hotel industry in 2013. With Kong's background and involvement in sales and marketing, Best Western won 30 HSMAI Adrian Awards and 26 Travel Weekly Magellan awards in 2014 – the most won in the travel industry. AAA has recognized Best Western as the "Partner of the Year" every year since 2008. Within the last year, Best Western Rewards® was named a top three hotel loyalty program by U.S. News & World Report and J.D. Power’s 2015 Hotel Loyalty/Rewards Program Satisfaction Report℠. The BEST WESTERN® and BEST WESTERN PLUS® hotels were voted the Best Midscale and Best Upper Midscale Hotel Chains in the 2014 Business Travel News survey.