hotels include non-smoking rooms, 24-hour-a-day toll-free reservations, Internet-based property management systems, and the industry's first iPhone application. The company's technological developments also led it to create a division called SkyTouch Technology in 2013, which markets Choice Hotels' property management system to other hotel companies. In 2014, Choice Hotels invested millions of dollars to begin a multi-year process to develop the industry's first new global reservations system and distribution platform in 27 years. A cloud-based system, choiceEDGE, launched in 2018. The system can integrate with voice search and artificial intelligence. In 2018, Choice Hotels expanded the number of hotel brands it franchised by acquiring WoodSpring Suites, an extended-stay economy hotel brand. Adding WoodSpring's 240 hotels across the U.S. tripled the number of extended-stay hotels in the company's portfolio to around 350 properties. , Choice Hotels-branded properties are located in more than 40 countries and territories, including hotels in Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Scandinavia. Choice Hotels entered into an agreement with Spanish hotel operator Sercotel in 2018 to increase Choice's footprint in Spain and Latin America. On June 13, 2022, Choice Hotels agreed to purchase Radisson Hotels for $675 million. Corporate affairs Choice Hotels International is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock symbol CHH. It maintains a corporate headquarters in Rockville, Maryland, and a technology campus in Phoenix, Arizona. At year-end 2017, Choice Hotels employed 1,987 people in its global corporate operations. Stewart W. Bainum Jr. is chairman of Choice Hotels' board of directors, a position he has held since 1987. Pat Pacious became president and CEO in September 2017. Previously, he served as Choice Hotels' president and chief operating officer. In 2017, Choice Hotels teamed up with the Red Cross and Boys and Girls Clubs of America in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma. Choice Hotels scored 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's Corporate Equality Index in 2018. The company's sustainability efforts include Room to be Green, which requires franchised properties to reduce their impact on the environment and lower operating costs with energy-efficient lighting and recycling, and giving guests the option of foregoing daily change of linens. Choice Hotels also participates in Clean the World to recycle hotel soap. Partnerships Choice Hotels formed an alliance with Bluegreen Vacations, an international timeshare company, in 2013. Pursuant to this arrangement, many Bluegreen resorts are members of Choice Hotels' Ascend Hotel Collection brand.