Loyalty in Luxury Hospitality

Overview

A global hospitality group was exploring how to evolve its loyalty offering for the world’s most affluent travelers. I led research with high-net-worth travelers to understand what loyalty means to them in luxury, what they want along the journey, and how two new program concepts compared to what exists today.

The question

What makes a loyalty program feel worthy of a luxury traveler’s loyalty? What do affluent travelers need and want along the journey that a program could answer, and how do they react to new ideas for a luxury loyalty program?

The approach

I ran a multi-day digital qualitative study with affluent travelers who are members of my affluent consumer panel. It explored the loyalty programs they love beyond hospitality, their desires across the travel journey, and their in-depth reactions to the concepts.

Outcome

The final report gave the team a clear, human view of loyalty in the world of luxury travel. It covered:

• What affluent travelers love about loyalty programs in luxury, inside and outside hospitality
• What they want along the travel journey, from planning to return
• How they responded to two loyalty concepts and the existing program, benefit by benefit
• What’s missing from the concepts, in their eyes

It closed with implications for how to develop each concept, so the team had specific next steps to act on.