INTERVIEW-Best Western CEO eyes struggling indie hotels

* Most new hotels will be converted properties-CEO

* Branding opportunity in Europe and Asia-CEO

By Deepa Seetharaman

NEW YORK, May 20 (Reuters) - Best Western International Inc is vying to buy and refashion struggling independent hotels, a move the nonprofit hotel group hopes will expand the chain's global reach and market share, its chief executive said.

"What we're seeing is a tremendous uptick of hotels wanting to join us," CEO David Kong said in an interview with Reuters.

"Independent hotels are realizing they can't survive on their own and they need the infrastructure and support services of Best Western."

As a nonprofit, Best Western derives most of its revenue from monthly fees and annual dues from its member hotels that it reinvests in the chain. This is different from the average for-profit hotel operator, which benefits from taking a percentage of its hotels' revenue.

This year, more than half of the chain's new hotels will be properties that have been converted to fit into Best Western's style, Kong said. The trend represents a departure from previous years when about 70 percent of the development pipeline was centered on constructing new hotels.