Consolidated Statements of Income - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
REVENUES
Topic 606 revenues	$ 774,072	$ 1,114,820	$ 1,041,304
Total revenues	774,072	1,114,820	1,041,304
OPERATING EXPENSES
Selling, general and administrative	148,524	168,833	170,027
Depreciation and amortization	25,831	18,828	14,330
Marketing and reservation system	446,847	579,139	534,266
Owned hotels	16,066	14,448	0
Total operating expenses	637,268	781,248	718,623
Impairment of goodwill	0	(3,097)	(4,289)
Impairment of long-lived assets	(14,751)	(7,259)	0
Loss on sale of business	0	(4,674)	0
Gain on sale of assets, net	0	100	82
Operating income	122,053	318,642	318,474
OTHER INCOME AND EXPENSES, NET
Interest expense	49,028	46,807	45,908
Interest income	(7,688)	(9,996)	(7,452)
Loss on extinguishment of debt	16,565	7,188	0
Other (gain) loss	(4,147)	(4,862)	1,437
Equity in net loss of affiliates	15,289	9,576	5,323
Total other income and expenses, net	69,047	48,713	45,216
Income before income taxes	53,006	269,929	273,258
Income tax (benefit) expense	(22,381)	47,051	56,903
Net income	$ 75,387	$ 222,878	$ 216,355
Earnings Per Share, Basic [Abstract]
Basic earnings per share (in dollars per share)	$ 1.36	$ 4.00	$ 3.83
Diluted earnings per share (in dollars per share)	$ 1.35	$ 3.98	$ 3.80
Royalty fees
REVENUES
Topic 606 revenues	$ 263,308	$ 388,151	$ 376,676
Initial franchise and relicensing fees
REVENUES
Topic 606 revenues	25,906	27,489	26,072
Procurement services
REVENUES
Topic 606 revenues	45,242	61,429	52,088
Marketing and reservation system
REVENUES
Topic 606 revenues	402,568	577,426	543,677
Owned hotels
REVENUES
Total revenues	20,168	20,282	0
Other
REVENUES
Total revenues	$ 16,880	$ 40,043	$ 42,791