Hotel guests are more loyal - not shopping around

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By: Wise Marketer Staff |

Posted on February 11, 2005

More guests are joining hotel loyalty programmes and the number saying that they are likely to return has risen, according to Market Metrix's latest Hospitality Index.

Analysis of results of the Market Metrix Hospitality Index for the fourth quarter of 2004 has revealed a continued increase in bookings on hotel sites and a boost in loyalty programme membership. These findings suggest that customers are becoming more loyal and doing less shopping around. The company's analysis of the data found that:

  • Membership in hotel loyalty programmes has been steadily climbing. Since the third quarter of 2002, 34% more guests report being members of hotel frequent sleeper programmes.
     
  • Increasing loyalty programme membership appears to have made a substantial impact on guest loyalty in non-casino hotels. The percentage of guests reporting that they are very likely to return has increased by six percentage points since the third quarter of 2002.
     
  • Hotels have succeeded in winning bookings away from such leading websites as Expedia and Orbitz. Increasing their share of web bookings by nearly 30% in the last five quarters, hotel websites now capture 15% of all Internet bookings. The top 3 non-casino hotel websites (in terms of capturing reservations of their own guests) are Staybridge, Candlewood and Extended StayAmerica.