Hotel Giants Turn to Loyalty Licensing Deals: 10 Things to Know
Photo Credit: Exterior of the Bellagio hotel fountain in Las Vegas, U.S. MGM Resorts
Skift Take
Major hotel groups are playing Pokémon with their loyalty programs. Instead of collecting rare game cards, they're adding new sets of travelers to their databases. Gotta catch 'em all.
Marriott and Sonder are teaming up in a 20-year licensing deal that lets members of Marriott's loyalty program earn points at Sonder's roughly 200 properties—about half of which are apartments. The deal is the latest in a string of similar licensing tie-ups led by Marriott, Hilton, IHG, and Hyatt.
In the past year, loyalty licensing tie-ups have included Marriott with MGM Resorts, Hilton with Small Luxury Hotels of the World, IHG with Iberostar, and Hyatt with Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
"Each partnership will be crafted to support different objectives, whether it's member acquisition, member retention, trying to capture more share of wallet, or get a higher number of members spending within your network," said Chris Holdren, a former hospitality executive.
Here are 10 things to know about the trend.
1. Loyalty Licensing Isn't NewIHG was one of the early pioneers of a loyalty licensing partnership.
In 2010, IHG signe
