Choice Hotels International (CHI), a Maryland-based hotel company that franchises nearly 6,200 hotels in the US and in over 30 other countries, has unveiled a new division, SkyTouch Technology, to develop and market cloud-based technology products for the hotel industry.

The products developed by the new division are expected to allow hoteliers to improve their efficiency and profitability.

The first product from the new division is SkyTouch Hotel OS, a new property and rate management solution.

"We believe that launching SkyTouch Technology as a separate line of business apart from our core hotel franchising operations gives the division the independence it needs to offer custom solutions and high levels of support, service and security to all its users."

SkyTouch Hotel OS is based on CHI’s cloud-based property management system, choiceADVANTAGE, which has over 5,500 installations across different Choice-branded hotels and is used for handling reservations, guest stays and rates on any device with an internet connection.

The new product offers the same functions as that of the choiceADVANTAGE property and rate management platform; however, it also has the ability to connect with other property management systems used by chain and independent hotels.

CHI president and CEO Stephen Joyce said choiceADVANTAGE was launched in 2003 and since then it has been effectively used by both Choice franchisees and other chains and independents hotels around the world.

"It’s a big milestone for the company that we can now offer a similar system via SkyTouch Hotel OS," Joyce added.

"We believe that launching SkyTouch Technology as a separate line of business apart from our core hotel franchising operations gives the division the independence it needs to offer custom solutions and high levels of support, service and security to all its users."

SkyTouch Technology president Ric Leutwyler said the company created SkyTouch to provide property solutions for chains and independent hotels.

"Thanks to Choice’s long history of successful technology innovation and the experienced team that joins the SkyTouch Technology division from other divisions of Choice, we’re ready to hit the ground running and immediately provide solutions that hotel operators need without the investment required by other software packages," Leutwyler added.

Choice franchisees will continue to use choiceADVANTAGE and its features such as integration with ChoiceHotels.com, Choice central reservation systems, the Choice Privileges loyalty program and other Choice systems.