GBTA&Omni: Travel and Hotel Loyalty Personalized Marketing Report

A study jointly launched by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) and Omni Hotel Group in the United States shows that on average, business travelers will consider three hotels before booking. 33% of respondents will make direct reservations through the hotel's official website; 27% choose OTA; 16% of business travelers will use corporate OBT (online booking tool) to complete the reservation.

82% of respondents said that loyalty programs are an important factor in driving hotel booking decisions. In addition, 90% of business travelers use reward points and additional perks as incentives when choosing a hotel, and 81% believe that loyalty members receive better service.

The survey was conducted from May 22 to June 1, 2018. Respondents were full-time or part-time employees who had traveled for business in the past year and stayed in a hotel during their most recent business trip.

Business travelers are basically divided into two camps in terms of the use of loyalty rewards, with 49% planning to use them for business travel and 43% using them for leisure vacations. For business travelers, the top five most attractive loyalty rewards are free nights, room upgrades, flexible reward redemption mechanisms, express check-in and member-exclusive services.

Personalized service

84% of business travelers said personalized customer experience is very important, most respondents believe that business travel experience should be different from leisure travel, and 64% will only purchase various facilities and services during business travel. What kind of personalized experience do business travelers want?

58% of respondents want affordable special orders, 57% want to receive restaurant recommendations, 50% are concerned about travel recommendations, and 40% want to receive recommendations for nearby entertainment activities.

Business travelers are very willing to share information with their company or hotel in exchange for a personalized hotel booking and accommodation experience. When asked what personal information they are willing to share, 55% of business travelers are willing to share their preferred hotel amenities, 42% are willing to share travel planning details, and 39% are willing to share their favorite restaurants or entertainment activities.

“Personalization is extremely valuable to business travelers throughout the entire booking process, from booking to check-out. Many business travelers are looking for a customized hotel experience that meets their travel needs,” said Jessica Collison, GBTA’s director of research. “Travel buyers and suppliers need to evaluate the impact of personalization on hotel bookings and the customer experience when developing travel and loyalty programs.”

“The importance of personalization is a recurring theme among members of Omni’s Select loyalty program,” said Chad Gaither, vice president of CRM and loyalty at Omni Hotels & Resorts. “When evaluating and designing the overall guest experience, we prioritize personalization as the most important piece of our messaging.”

This article comes from: Travel Weekly

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