Excerpt from Travel Weekly
Judging from discussions at the Americas Lodging and Investment Summit, 2022 will be a year of widespread changes to hotel loyalty programs, and there will be fierce competition to enlist new members.
In session after session, loyalty programs were raised as an area ripe for an evolution, as they have become more important to hotel business models and serve to capture new customers during a period of shifting traveler tastes and demands.
Hotel brands grew their loyalty programs during the pandemic, and many of them are investing heavily in keeping momentum going.
Loyalty programs help drive direct bookings as customers first accrue and then spend their points, but they also give a hotelier a direct line of communication with guests and incentivize the use of hotel restaurants, bars and spas, boosting ancillary revenue. Hotel companies are making more development decisions with loyalty members in mind.
As Covid-19 stirred up the guest mix, loyalty programs were due for a revamp, according to the 2022 American Hotel and Lodging Association State of the Industry report, which was published during the conference.
"With high-volume business travel down, traditional loyalty programs no longer make sense," the report stated. "The most effective loyalty programs will offer more personalized rewards that meet the needs of occasional business travelers and leisure travelers, as well."
Some of those changes might be the ability to use points at spas, or an exclusive mixology class or culinary event. An MGM Rewards revamp, for example, enables nongaming guests to earn credits that can be redeemed for food and beverage, entertainment and travel.
Cindy Estis Green, CEO of Kalibri Labs, said that loyalty programs "have a dramatic effect on retaining customers, because a lot of the convenience is built within the apps -- mobile check-in, keyless entry -- those kinds of things are driven by being a member of the loyalty program."
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