Weekly Insights. March 8, 2025

Hotel loyalty race: Marriott leads, Hilton is gaining fast — See the top 13 programs

​Marriott Bonvoy currently leads global hotel loyalty programs with 228 million members. Hilton Honors follows closely, having grown its membership by 147% since 2018 to reach 210 million members. At this pace, Hilton could surpass Marriott by late 2026. Other notable programs include IHG Rewards with 130 million members and Wyndham Rewards with 110 million members. Collectively, major hotel loyalty programs have added over 500 million members since 2018, indicating a 69% surge in memberships over the past six years.

What is dynamic pricing? What hospitality pros should know

This article explores dynamic pricing in hospitality, detailing how hotels use real-time market data, competitor rates, and demand forecasting to adjust prices. It highlights the benefits of increased revenue, improved ADR and RevPAR, and better inventory utilization. The discussion also covers advanced strategies such as segmenting demand by room type, length of stay, and loyalty rates. While dynamic pricing enhances profitability, challenges include price volatility, guest perception, and maintaining rate parity. Implementing AI-driven revenue management systems helps hotels optimize pricing while balancing profitability and guest satisfaction.

Why capacity-driven KPIs are holding hotels back

This article critiques the overreliance on capacity-driven KPIs like occupancy, RevPAR, and TRevPAR in hotel performance evaluation. It argues that these metrics, while widely used, often prioritize short-term revenue over long-term profitability and guest value. The discussion highlights the pitfalls of discounting to boost occupancy, reactive decision-making, and the limitations of room-based metrics in assessing total business success. Hotels are encouraged to adopt more holistic approaches that consider guest lifetime value, operational costs, and strategic revenue diversification.

Is OpenAI's Operator the death of traditional search for hotel websites?

This article examines the impact of OpenAI’s Operator, an AI-driven booking assistant, on hotel distribution. Unlike traditional search engines, Operator bypasses direct hotel websites in favor of OTAs unless travelers search for a hotel by name. To compete, hotels must prioritize brand recognition, first-party data collection, and AI optimization to ensure visibility in AI-driven search results. The shift from human-led search to AI-powered decision-making makes structured data, direct engagement, and instant conversion strategies essential for maintaining direct bookings.

ITB Berlin 2025 hotelier's recap

Discover the game-changing hotel tech innovations from ITB Berlin that are redefining revenue, automation, and guest experience.

Maximize your digital marketing performance with hotel data strategies

This article explores how hotels can maximize digital marketing performance using data-driven strategies. It emphasizes audience-based targeting over traditional demographics, refining digital roadmaps with analytics, and balancing short-term bookings with long-term brand building. Key tactics include leveraging first-party data, optimizing core marketing channels like search and social media, and integrating technology to unify guest insights. Hotels that embrace a data-informed approach can improve conversion rates, enhance brand loyalty, and drive sustainable revenue growth.

David vs Goliath or how independents can beat the OTAs at their own marketing game

This article argues that independent hotels can compete with OTAs despite their massive marketing budgets by leveraging smarter, targeted digital strategies. It emphasizes investing in a mobile-first website, SEO optimization, and AI-ready content to improve visibility. Hotels should also implement CRM technology, establish a strong social media presence, utilize free online listings, and run Google Ads to capture direct traffic. Content marketing plays a crucial role in engaging travelers at different stages of the booking journey. By focusing on feeder markets and repeat business, hotels can maximize their marketing spend efficiently.

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