Trends that are changing the concept of hotel loyalty

European hotel loyalty programs are undergoing a series of changes in recent years, seeking new responses to the needs of their increasingly technological and demanding members. Personalization and unique experiences will become increasingly important to travelers and will become decision factors in the booking process.

Although loyalty programs have always focused on the more traditional frequent traveler, in less than three years this will change and half of frequent travelers will be millennials, according to a study by hotel loyalty club Wanup.

Within a market as complex as tourism, brands are developing increasingly innovative value propositions to reach the desires of this new type of frequent traveler.

Data for personalization
The amount of data available to the hotelier is growing, to the point where he can personalize every step. Get to know the guest better and make the stay more personalized until the guest feels unique. The number of satisfied members increases eightfold when they are more satisfied with the level of personalization.

Experience
Many hotel loyalty programs offer experiences that complement the already well-known points. Some companies even allow you to use them to purchase experiences, such as cooking tours, sporting events or music concerts. Still, the trend is to offer a unique destination experience, and most millennials value local experiences more.

Simplicity
Points, membership numbers, wallet cards… Loyalty club membership sometimes seems complicated. More than 20% of Europeans say they would not join a hotel loyalty program if it does not offer rewards that interest them. Add to this the fact that programs are constantly changing, adding or removing benefits or complicating the structure for earning points.

There are already tools that allow you to organize different member accounts, but the ultimate goal will be to make programs increasingly clearer and simpler to achieve true member loyalty, such as using cash equivalents instead of points, for example.

Mobile
Having loyalty programs on mobile makes everything easier for both the guest and the brand and allows the hotelier to use this data to work on the guest's needs in a more immediate way. Loyalty program apps can enable, for example, the sending of notifications to directly alert the guest when they are in the hotel. In addition, some brands are playing with personalized emojis to chat with their members during their stay.

Boutique hotels 
Key attributes such as design, authenticity and hotel experience are becoming increasingly valuable to millennials. As a result, boutique hotels will become the most preferred by this audience. Millennials tend to relate to brands on an emotional level and share their experiences on social networks.