Choice Hotels International has replaced President and CEO Patrick Pacious with an interim leader, tapping Chief Growth & Strategy Officer Dominic Dragisich to run the company effective May 20, 2026. The move, announced by the NYSE-listed lodging franchisor's board of directors, marks a significant shift at one of the world's largest hotel franchise organizations — a company whose portfolio directly shapes the hospitality landscape that food and beverage operators navigate every day.
Pacious will remain with the company in an advisory capacity through August 31, 2026, providing the board a window to manage the handover before conducting a broader leadership search. Dragisich, stepping up from his strategy-focused role, brings an inside-the-organization perspective to the interim post at a time when hotel brands are under pressure to differentiate their guest experience — including the food, beverage, and dining amenities that increasingly drive loyalty and satisfaction scores.
For operators working within or alongside Choice Hotels-affiliated properties — whether running on-site restaurants, supplying F&B programs, or managing catering agreements — leadership transitions at major franchisors can ripple into procurement priorities, brand standards, and capital investment decisions. Watching how Dragisich steers strategy in the coming months will matter to anyone whose business intersects with the company's more than 7,000 properties across its franchise system.
Notably, the company moved to reaffirm its full-year 2026 financial guidance alongside the leadership announcement, a signal the board intends to project stability to investors and franchise partners alike. That kind of continuity messaging is increasingly common during C-suite transitions, as brands work to reassure stakeholders that strategic direction remains intact regardless of who holds the top seat.
The hospitality sector has seen a wave of executive reshuffling in recent years as brands recalibrate post-pandemic growth strategies. For context on how leadership changes at major hotel groups affect restaurant and hospitality operators, the dynamics at Choice Hotels offer a useful case study in managing franchise-system confidence during uncertain transitions. Those tracking broader beverage and dining program shifts across hotel brands should monitor whether Dragisich's growth-strategy background accelerates or pauses any pending F&B initiatives within the portfolio.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
