With high rate of loyalty among globetrotters, international hotel chains are focusing on India and China, the two fastest growing markets for the industry, to lure members to their loyalty programmes.
According to a survey commissioned by American hotel chain Starwood Hotels & Resorts, nearly three-quarter of global travellers said their relationships with hotel loyalty programmes would last longer than the loyalty rate in marriages or jobs.
International chains such as Starwood, Marriott and InterContinental are ramping up their global loyalty programmes to get more Indian guests enrolled. Indian hotel brands such as ITC and Taj group are also waking up to this competition and offering attractive offers to attract members.
According to Starwood Hotels & Resorts, nearly 45% of its guests who stay at its hotels in India are members of its loyalty programme, Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG). Its membership base has grown nearly 270% since 2007. Nearly 30% of the revenue of hotel chain comes from members of the SPG as per an ET report.
"India is the one of the key and one of the fastest growing markets," says Javier Cedillo Espin, senior director marketing, Starwood Asia Pacific Hotels & Resorts.
International hotel chains have been busy tying up with Indian airlines, cab service providers, travel portals and even IPL teams such as Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan Royals to provide consumers with more region specific options to redeem their points.
InterContinental Hotels (IHG), which has the largest global loyalty programme with about 61 million members, is planning to conduct a study to know more about its Indian consumers.
"With India being a key market for us, we plan to do evaluation of consumer behavior to better understand their needs from a programme like this," says Chris Moloney, chief operating officer, IHG-South West Asia. Brand loyalty comes in handy for hotel chains during economic pressures on the travel industry, he says.
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