This sponsored content has been created in collaboration with Skift partners.
Today’s travelers have no shortage of loyalty programs to choose from — 70% of GHA Discovery members say they’re active in at least three or more. However, being a member doesn’t always mean being engaged. According to a Boston Consulting Group reportAs people join more loyalty programmes, their overall engagement decreases.
GHA Discovery, a loyalty program from Global Hotel Alliance that includes 850 hotels, resorts, and palaces from 45 hotel brands in 100 countries, recently launched its 2025 report, “What Travelers Want Most from Loyalty Programs.” This report examines guest loyalty based on 8,687 answers with 85% of coverage across 13 key market. The question at the heart of this report is: What makes guests stick around in an overcrowded loyalty landscape. GHA’s research suggests it’s no longer just about collecting points — it’s about meaningful, easy-to-use benefits, clear value, and a sense of being recognized.
Get More Value for Your Stay:
Travelers today place more importance on quality than quantity when selecting hotel loyalty programs. It’s less about the points, and more about being recognized, rewarded and valued. According to the survey, members considered the availability and value of benefits and perks when selecting a program. In the report, 47% of respondents ranked room upgrades as the most valuable benefit. Some of the most popular benefits include free breakfast, late check-out, and early check in.
Travelers are moving away from loyalty programs that offer discounts in favor of rewards that enhance the quality of their experience with personalized experiences.
Kristi Gole is the executive vice president for strategy at Global Hotel Alliance. She said that independent hotel brands have an advantage. They are less bureaucratic and have fewer operational constraints on a daily basis. “Unlike the scripted approach and predictable experience often seen in large chains, they can really differentiate themselves by offering a human and tailored customer experience.”
The Key to Success is Simplicity and Clarity
Complexity can make or break a sale. According to the study, travelers are looking for programs that are easy to understand and use. They don’t want to have to decipher fine print or navigate complex redemption rules. GHA Discovery gains a competitive edge because members no longer have to use mental gymnastics to calculate the value or spend their rewards. They can use the rewards currency, Discovery Dollars (D$), across all GHA hotels by simply applying them as a payment type at checkout.
“Discovery Dollars” are accepted in all of our hotels. D$1 equals US$1. It can be used at the check-out at the hotel and when booking online. There are no thresholds or calculations with points. You can use as little as D$10 to pay for your bill, or you can save it up and spend it later. That simplicity — in the transparent value and the ability to use like cash without having to save up — is what sets our rewards apart,” Gole said.
Human Touch and Recognition
According to the report, feeling appreciated and seen is just as important as earning rewards. With the use of behavioral data, such as booking patterns and spending habits, hotels can create moments that are truly personal. If you can create a personalized experience that is aligned with the member’s interest, then it could be a customized in-room amenity or a room upgrade for a special occasion.
Gole says that GHA continually updates its loyalty program in response to member feedback and behavior. “We concentrate on delivering benefits at the level of each property, and especially room upgrades which are valued by members most. It completely changes the experience when a guest has booked a standard room and suddenly gets handed the keys to a suite — it’s a surprise and delight moment,” she said. “We heard from our guests that they expect breakfast included. Last year, we offered a complimentary breakfast to top-tier members that book directly. The response has been great — it’s saving guests money and increasing their satisfaction, and hotels are able to offer it without a major hit to their bottom line.”
GHA has also responded to member feedback by increasing the flexibility of its rewards. GHA, after listening to members’ requests for more time to redeem their rewards, doubled the D$ period expiration at the entry level. The company is currently exploring ways to extend the expiration period for elite tiers.
Building Loyalty from the Back Up
Today, delivering a unified experience of loyalty requires powerful, invisible back-end technologies. GHA Discovery is focusing on this area. Gole explained that people want seamless experiences, and digital innovations are the key to providing them.
GHA has invested in technology twice as much over the past two years, and created a sophisticated platform for connecting a variety of independent brands with the central loyalty system. GHA Discovery can deliver real-time recognition of members and consistent benefits across hotels using this infrastructure, even if the underlying system is different.
This is a difficult aspect for independent hotel brands. Most of them have a patchwork system of different PMS, POS, booking engines and central reservation systems. One of the biggest challenges in loyalty operations is getting these systems to communicate in real-time.
GHA is a technical and pragmatic company. “We know how to connect the systems. It’s not always seamless. Sometimes, it takes more work, but we’re aware of what’s possible. Gole stated that we are honest with our hotel partners and have realistic expectations.
GHA Discovery is able to compete with larger programs because of its transparency and flexibility. GHA Discovery supports independent luxury hotel brands, while larger chains rely heavily on standard systems and uniform experiences. Brands like Anantara, Capella, and Rotana, in the Middle East, each have their own unique identity. “We celebrate individuality. We celebrate their individuality.
Fewer Programs but Deeper Commitment
As travelers become more selective with their spending, the future might look less like an ocean of competing programs but more like a handful of dominant ecosystems. Gole believes that hotel loyalty is likely to begin to look like the airline alliance model. “Guests will likely choose the ecosystem that meets their needs best, and they won’t look beyond it over time,” said Gole.
In hospitality, this long-term commitment is already becoming a reality. GHA Discovery is a leader in the industry, and it appears that its model works for members. According to the report preference for GHA Discovery increased by seven points from last year to 53%. It was even higher in higher tiers: 62% Titanium-tier Members prefer GHA Discovery as compared to only 13% Marriott Bonvoy. The figures show that travelers who commit to GHA’s ecosystem are kept there by the experience.
GHA Discovery is what Gole describes as “the best of two worlds” from the perspective of a hotel brand. The shared loyalty infrastructure will allow member brands to benefit from a global loyalty program, with 30 million members and $2.7 billion generated in room revenue by 2024.
GHA’s hybrid model offers a blueprint on how the future of loyalty could look: flexible, connected, and designed to foster long-term relations.
This content was developed collaboratively. Global Hotel Alliance Skift’s brand content studio. SkiftX.
