Senior leadership at the C-suite level lacks deep hospitality experience. CEO Larry Cuculic’s only prior experience in the travel industry was serving as Chief Legal Counsel for Best Western International. As a result, he appears to have a limited understanding of hotel operations and hospitality culture.
His leadership style often reflects a “guilty until proven innocent” mentality, which he seems to use as a method of gaining understanding and control. He appears more focused on maintaining favor with the Board, hoteliers, and international delegates than on supporting employees and fostering a healthy internal culture.
During staff meetings, he has publicly belittled and mocked employees, at times in the presence of both HR leadership and members of the legal department. This behavior contributes to a culture of fear and disengagement rather than accountability and collaboration.
He also continues to boast about returning money to hotel owners at year-end instead of investing in employees, infrastructure, and technology. Along with the CFO, leadership appears focused on cost-cutting measures to the point of being penny wise and pound foolish — attempting to save their way into prosperity rather than strategically investing in long-term growth.
At the same time, the brand is losing hotels, and the property count promoted on the company website appears inflated or misleading. Despite this, the legal department continues to approve these representations in public-facing materials.
