PARSIPPANY, N.J., Feb. 26, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- With a commitment to acting with integrity and a dedication to making hotel travel possible for all, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: WH) has been recognized as one of the 2019 World's Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute. This distinction marks the first global accolade for the Company and builds upon a strong Wyndham history of recognition by Ethisphere, a leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices.

"In our first year as a new public company, today's recognition as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies is continued reaffirmation of the inclusive, values-driven culture instilled in our team members by our former parent, Wyndham Worldwide," said Geoff Ballotti, president and chief executive officer, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. "Strong ethics are the foundation of our corporate culture, with integrity being one of our Company's core values."

The World's Most Ethical Companies designation recognizes those companies which align principle with action, work tirelessly to make trust part of their corporate DNA, and in doing so, shape future industry standards by introducing tomorrow's best practices today.

"Companies with effective compliance programs not only make good ethical decisions, but Ethisphere's research demonstrates that they also outperform their peers," said Paul Cash, general counsel and chief compliance officer, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.

"Our ethical business practices foster great experiences and brand loyalty for our guests and for Wyndham Rewards members, as well as our Wyndham Hotels & Resorts team members," added Samantha Vaughan, group vice president, corporate compliance and chief privacy officer.

Maintaining a strong focus on ethical practices is part of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts' robust social responsibility commitment. Some of the Company's activities and accomplishments include:

• Creating a diverse and inclusive place to work and do business through its values-driven culture of ethics and integrity;
• Developing new training programs and awareness initiatives to provide tailored guidance for corporate and hotel property-based team members on acceptable business conduct standards and how to weave compliant and ethical decision making into everyday business;
• Working to protect human rights by providing hotel owners and franchisees training and awareness tools to identify human trafficking in partnership with the Polaris Project and ECPAT-USA.

The World's Most Ethical Company assessment is based upon the Ethisphere Institute's Ethics Quotient® (EQ) framework which offers a quantitative way to assess a company's performance in an objective, consistent and standardized way. The information collected provides a comprehensive sampling of definitive criteria of core competencies, rather than all aspects of corporate governance, risk, sustainability, compliance and ethics. Scores are generated in five key categories: ethics and compliance program (35%), corporate citizenship and responsibility (20%), culture of ethics (20%), governance (15%) and leadership and reputation (10%).

About the Ethisphere Institute

The Ethisphere® Institute is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust and business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-driven insights that help companies enhance corporate character and measure and improve culture. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its World's Most Ethical Companies recognition program and provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA). More information about Ethisphere can be found at: https://ethisphere.com.

About Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: WH) is the world's largest hotel franchising company, with approximately 9,200 hotels across more than 80 countries on six continents. Through its network of approximately 810,000 rooms appealing to the everyday traveler, Wyndham commands a leading presence in both the economy and midscale segments of the lodging industry. The Company operates a portfolio of 20 hotel brands, including Super 8®, Days Inn®, Ramada®, Microtel Inn & Suites®, La Quinta®, Wingate®, AmericInn®, Hawthorn Suites®, The Trademark Collection®, and Wyndham®. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is also a leading provider of hotel management services, with more than 400 properties under management. The Company's award-winning Wyndham Rewards loyalty program offers approximately 61 million enrolled members the opportunity to redeem points at thousands of hotels, vacation club resorts and vacation rentals globally. For more information, visit www.wyndhamhotels.com.

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SOURCE Wyndham Hotels & Resorts