Building Brand Loyalty in the Era of the Empowered Traveler

Today, brand loyalty doesn’t start when a traveler joins a rewards program, it starts with a great experience. The key to delivering that great experience is by gathering the right data and using it to gain insights into each traveler’s behavior and preferences. That data can then help unlock a greater share of wallet, and share of travel. But even at a time when travel brands appear to have more guest and traveler data than ever before, it seems as if existing efforts to build stronger loyalty are falling short.
The truth is that traveler demand for a new model of loyalty is more urgent than ever. That’s because today’s traveler has more brand choices and booking options, making it harder for companies to build ongoing relationships. The best proof of this is the declining rate of loyalty engagement among current program members. According to loyalty insights firm Colloquy, the number of memberships in travel and hospitality loyalty programs grew by 20 percent between 2014 and 2016, surpassing more than a billion members. Yet during this same period, more than half (54 percent) of these travel loyalty memberships were inactive, and more than one quarter (28 percent) were abandoned without ever being used.