John Lancaster

John Lancaster is Vice President of Emerging Markets Franchise Development at Choice International.

Prior to joining Choice hotels, John had extensive on property hotel experience with his initial entry position into the hospitality industry as a lifeguard, John quickly traversed the hotel landscape and held positions including Director of Marketing and General Manager at multiple properties in the full service and extended stay segments. He joined Choice as the Director of Global Sales Sourcing and Solutions where he oversaw RFP sourcing and Business rate loading Internationally. He also led a team to implement Salesforce technology for the global sales organization. He quickly found his opportunity on the development team as the Director of Emerging Markets where he pushed the boundaries of hotel ownership engagement. Choice promoted John to RVP Signature brands for Mid-Atlantic Region.

In his current role as Vice President, he is on a mission to educate, inspire and motivate underrepresented minorities about the benefits and simplify the process of hotel ownership. He leads a team of diverse franchise development professionals focused on recruiting diverse hotel owners. He was instrumental in creating HERtels by Choice (focusing on Women Entrepreneurship) During his 7-year tenure in Development at Choice, he has personally helped 100+ underrepresented minorities (Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino Americans, Native Americans, Veteran Americans, and Women) achieve hotel ownership under the Choice flag and influenced countless others within and outside of the industry in hotel ownership. Mr. Lancaster joined the Senior Leadership team and was responsible for developing the Choice Hotel Owners African American Alliance council. John is on the Board of trustees of the International Franchise Association Foundation and an inaugural member of the Black Franchise Leadership Council. He sits on the Hospitality board of Morgan State university (assisted in developing the Choice Hotels HBCU rotational Management program), the board of directors for visit Montgomery and was recently appointed to the board of trustees for the American Hotel Lodging Association Foundation. Savoy Magazine named John one of the “300 most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America” in June of 2022.