hotel loyalty
Loyalty Program Membership, Contribution, Liability, and Costs Continue to Grow
CBRE Hotels | November 4, 2024
By Rachael Rothman CFA, ISHC, Robert Mandelbaum, and Christine Bang Strong loyalty programs help hotel brands lower customer acquisition costs, increase direct-to-consumer access, and offset occupancy shortfalls during shoulder periods and weaker economic conditions. After analyzing publicly available data from five large hotel companies, we found that while growth in several key metrics slowed in 2023, loyalty members' overall contribution to occupancy increased, though marginal contribution per member contracted. Benefits The average number of loyalty program members at the subject five companies increased 11.3% in 2023, slower tha...
How Next-Gen Tech Is Leveling the Playing Field for Independents in the Race for Guest Loyalty
Ellis Connolly | September 13, 2022
By Ellis Connolly At a dinner last year, I overheard a conversation unfolding between two other guests, one of whom worked at a PR agency. “Believe it or not, micro-influencers are often more impactful from a social media marketing standpoint than the big players,” she shared, at which point my ears pricked up to listen closely. “Campaigns with someone at a high level of fame, like Kim Kardashian, will cost a company incomprehensible sums of money – which may be fine if the ROI justifies it, but if the engagement is predominantly views and general sponsored exposure rather than tangible actions, it’s not necessarily a smart busin...
How to Build the Ultimate Distribution Technology Strategy for a Casino Resort
Michael Linton | May 19, 2022
By Michael Linton Casino resorts face unique revenue challenges that often result in silos between gaming and room revenue – including the use of separate technology platforms that do not communicate with each other. Even after the dips in reservations and demand during the pandemic, the first quarter of 2022 has already exceeded the year-over-year trend in gaming revenue, and the casino resort landscape is rapidly expanding. This means the demand is there and continuing to grow, as long as casino resorts have the technology in place to optimize their revenue and meet guest’s increasing expectations. We’ve seen that consumers have...
The Difference Between Loyalty Programs and Loyalty to a Brand
Alan Young | September 5, 2019
By Alan E. Young Loyalty is earned, and certainly not given, and there is a definite difference between loyalty programs and a guest’s loyalty to a brand. Hotel loyalty programs might seem ubiquitous today, but nearly 60% of guests still don’t belong to one. During the 2019 Skift Tech Forum, industry experts agreed that today’s travelers seek more than just opportunities to earn points – they want experiences. Mind you, that doesn't mean it's beyond reach. Hoteliers must work a little harder to understand precisely what factors drive guest loyalty in the modern age. Which brings us to the ultimate question — what makes guests l...
The Evolution Of Private Clubs
Chris Mumford | February 7, 2019
By Chris Mumford The desire to be with and around other people is an innate human characteristic. In evolutionary terms, humans quickly worked out that strength in numbers equalled survival, and this need to seek connections and to form bonds with others has remained within us over time, even as the threats to our existence have altered and diminished. The need to band together to fend off attack or to kill for food has been replaced by a want for social interaction and companionship. For most, school is the first place we begin to form relationships with like-minded fellow humans and where we form groups, teams, cliques and gangs. In 1...
RSS 2018: Revenue Strategy Begins With Strong Leadership
RSS | July 12, 2018
Industry Leaders and Disruptors Gather to Learn Latest in Innovation and Technology Washington, July 12, 2018 — The sixth annual Revenue Strategy Summit brought together technology innovators and hospitality industry leaders, including brand executives and asset managers, to examine the challenges hotels face in maintaining rate growth and managing a distribution landscape that gets more complicated by the day. The one-day conference, held at the Knight Conference Center at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., combined hotelier-led panel discussions with keynote presentations on voice-activated digital assistants like Amazon's Alexa, ...
Two Top Trends Transforming Hotel Loyalty
Brian Steele | March 19, 2018
By Brian Steele There's a new generation of travelers using points for much more than hotel stays. In order to keep their loyalty programs engaging, brands would be wise to take notice of two key movements affecting their consumers: liquid currency and generational shifts. Liquid Currency Liquid currency refers to the ability to spend loyalty points in a retail setting, as if it was actual money. This is a growing trend that can help hotel brands increase on-property spend outside of the portfolio. Some hotels may see value in having their points be totally liquid and spendable at any point of sale (La Quinta has already adopted this a...
