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US: Hotel loyalty programs and price primary reasons for selecting a hotel

January 25, 2013 | Hotel Marketing

Past experience, loyalty programs and price play a bigger role in customers’ purchase decisions in the US compared to other world regions. Past experience is reported by 15% of all guests as their primary motivation for brand choice, more than in any other global region.

Hotels in the Americas are taking advantage of the opportunities available with loyalty programs. With improved benefits and guest-friendly rules, hotel loyalty programs are increasingly becoming one of the primary reasons for selecting a particular hotel. In fact, hotel guests in the Americas are four times more likely to choose a hotel because of their loyalty program compared to guests in Asia.

Price also plays a bigger role in The Americas compared to global averages, perhaps due in part to saturated markets and heightened competition in this region. Price is the main consideration for 17% of guests choosing hotels in the Americas and is especially critical for economy guests and business travelers. Women care slightly less about price when choosing a hotel, but give more weight to promotions and loyalty program points compared to men. As expected, price matters most for guests with lower incomes, especially those who earn below US$45,000 and for younger guests, especially ages 26-30.

Recommendations for hoteliers in The Americas: Getting more customers to select your hotel in The Americas requires greater focus on the customer experience (especially to the customer segments described above), promoting loyalty programs and their benefits when available, and emphasizing greater value, especially to price sensitive and value conscious customers.

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