“There is stagnation in the industry about the loyalty customers feel to particular brands” – Umar Riaz, Accenture Hospitality
“A whopping 91 per cent of guests would drop out of a hotel loyalty programme based on only one negative experience” – Hospitality Marketing
Limiting points-earning potential in favour
of attracting more elite-tier membership is a difficult call, he says. “If hotels set the bar too high, employees just see it as unachievable. On the other hand, it could influence them to choose a hotel based solely on points accumulation. Our approach is to limit the choice of hotel available through the OBT with a strong gateway at the expense reim- bursement stage to check bookings made within policy.” He says that to aid compliance, schemes should consider giving bonus points for booking at corporate rates through a TMC. None of the buyers I speak to advocates a system of a company sharing hotel loyalty points with the employees. “It’s just too dif- ficult to share rewards points, as travellers often acquire points from personal trips as well as business trips,” says one. “Differentiat- ing between these is always going to be a challenge.” All agree, instead, that crossover rewards with airlines or match-for-match facilitation between hotel chains make stron- ger sense in contributing to the bottom line. Together with no-quibble items such as
guaranteed best available room rate and late check-out, these translate into more practical articles of faith. If not as dependable as the aforementioned dog.
PRIMARY HOTEL LOYALTY SCHEMES
BRANDED Hilton HHonors IHG Rewards Club Hyatt Gold Passport Starwood Preferred Guest Marriott Rewards Accor Le Club Accorhotels Choice Privileges Best Western Rewards Fairmont President’s Club
AGNOSTIC
Hotels.com Orbitz Expedia HRS
CHANGE IS INEVITABLE
YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE a points- chasing anorak, carry a fistful of ‘free’ membership cards or have an electronic wallet bulging with virtual numbers, to know that hotel loyalty schemes are due for restructuring. Nor do you need to know that personally winning or losing, or benefiting or not, from your membership commonly boils down to location or luck on the day.
Little love has been lost on either side of the supplier-recipient divide since the inception of hotel schemes and their subsequent expansion to entice the return stays of both frequent and infrequent travellers, business and leisure. Often hidebound by occupancy levels or localised restrictions, they arguably have been the cause of as much disgruntlement as pleasure between hoteliers and customers alike for mutually being fickle, over-fussy or divisive in practice. Individual qualifying regulations,
differing minimum point accumulation levels, lounge access, premium charge- card only and lack of standardised chain delivery of rewards have all proved to be confrontational issues. As has the promotion of supermarket-style trading, free wifi as a ‘reward’ or nuanced brand awareness gimmickry taking the place of meaningful relationship-building and worthwhile rewards.
A number of industry surveys or analytical reports over the past year have pointed to the high percentage of membership levels against the diminishing credibility or value of hotel schemes among travellers. For example, a 2013 report by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC) noted that marginally more (85 per cent) of non-loyalty scheme guests in the US were booking via third party OTAs than loyalty cardholders were through a hotel’s website (80 per cent). “More efficient [hotel] operators are actively using digital to help them do the basics better, whether it’s speeding up check-in/out, simplifying the booking process or showcasing what the hotel
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
has to offer,” said the report. “But the consumer is already expecting more: more interactive content, more real-time location-based offers during their stay and more opportunities to use digital to comment on and enhance their stay. Going beyond just using digital for research and buy is crucial if hotels want to deliver more value and reverse the trend of commoditisation.” The report said truly innovative brands should seek to exploit digital to further grow revenues, increase loyalty and reduce costs. By managing the customer’s digital identity, brands could deliver more personal, higher quality experiences. “Achieving this level of personalisation clearly requires a much higher level of trust from the customer and that means only those brands already perceived as trustworthy can take advantage. It’s about speaking directly to consumers rather than harvesting data behind their back.” This and similar advisories have helped prompt chains to re-identify their key traveller demographics – such as Millennials over Baby Boomers, or long-term big spenders over transient point collectors – and shape their loyalty programmes accordingly. In turn, this has led to hotels
broadening their digital sales platforms, increasingly with links to their loyalty schemes. A recent UK survey by market intelligence provider Travelclick says hoteliers are prioritising spend in mobile and social media to increase web traffic and bookings on the move. At the same time, a number of chains
are expanding conventional business audience reach through generic hotel booking systems. For example, Shangri-La has just joined HRS’s platform, including access to Golden Circle loyalty rewards. In addition, Worldhotels is this summer launching a collective loyalty scheme for all 500 of its independent partner properties in 65 countries. The Peakpoints scheme will be administered by individual hotels and/or via OTAs.
BBT MAY/JUNE 2014 97
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