Best Western International, Inc. owns the Best Western Hotels & Resorts brand, which it licenses to over 4,500 hotels worldwide. The franchise, with its corporate headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, includes more than 2,000 hotels in North America. The brand was founded by M.K. Guertin in 1946. As of May 2019, David Kong is the president and CEO of Best Western and Dorothy Dowling is the chief marketing officer.\nIn 1964, Canadian hotel owners joined the system. Best Western then expanded to Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand in 1976.\nIn 2002, Best Western International launched Best Western Premier in Europe and Asia. (The other hotels in the chain were known as Best Western.) In 2011, the chain's branding system-wide changed to a three-tiered system: Best Western, Best Western Plus, and Best Western Premier.
Best Western