along with new additions to its
development team,’ said Andrew.
A new global loyalty
programme, The List, will
also be launched this summer,
emphasising instant benefits for
guests, such as an arrival ritual
and upgrades on availability, and
harnessing the collective marketing
resources of participating member
hotels.
Andrew won’t give away the
details, only saying: “Guests
have a new set of expectations.
They expect loyalty programmes
to offer greater flexibility and
personalisation; they are looking
for individualised value and they
want more than just points.”
Added Andrew: “In hospitality,
loyalty programmes will see a lot of
changes within the next years. The
industry needs to redefine what
hotel loyalty is in order to adapt
to changing consumer behaviours
and hotel (members) expectations.
Today, independent hotels want
loyalty programmes to help them
drive more direct bookings and
reduce their dependency on OTAs
and other third parties. That is why
WorldHotels has been rethinking
how loyalty is recognised and
rewarded and will introduce a new
loyalty programme this summer.”
SMALL LUXURY HOTELS
OF THE WORLD (SLH)
SLH launched a new look and feel
in 2015, and was the first among
independent hotel chains to reboot
their loyalty plan to suit today’s
needs. It launched Invited, which
replaced Club of SLH, last October.
Invited does reflect the pivot
indie hotel groups are trying to
make, from the typical point-
based redemptions for free nights
or upgrades offered by big-
name chains, to what SLH CEO
Filip Boyen described as “being
more responsive to distinctive
experiences”.
Guests want immediate
gratification and tailored
communication, he said. Points
accumulation is tedious. It’s the
“basics” that now count. “No one
is interested in lounge access if
they have to then pay for breakfast
each morning at their hotel,” Boyen
pointed out.
“Our members do not want
points because it takes effort to
work out meaningful value. What
members want is simplicity and
Invited delivers just that – the more
a member stays, the better it gets
with SLH,” he added.
Three new crucial Invited
offerings are:
I’m asked
all the time
now about
how the big
hotel chains
launching
soft brands
has affected
our business
– frankly,
it hasn’t.
Filip Boyen
CEO, Small Luxury
Hotels of the World
Below
Dormy House
Hotel, Broadway,
Cotswolds, UK, a
member of SLH
• Hotel benefits such as room
upgrades and late check-outs which
members see as extremely valuable
remain, but are now implemented
consistently across SLH’s 500+
independently-owned hotels.
• New and more frequently
awarded benefits such as reward
night vouchers, birthday gifts,
recommend a friend, and small
luxuries to surprise guests.
• Members are recognised not
only for the number or value of
bookings that they make, but for
their overall interaction with the
brand.
SLH figures that the new
loyalty programme will also give
rich insights into 400,000-strong
Invited members’ travel patterns
which it wants to leverage to raise
the booking conversion through
“highly personalised emails” and
more engagements with the brand.
Ultimately this will lead to greater
brand loyalty from members.
Like Preferred, SLH is reaping
rewards of the initiatives taken since
2015.
Said Boyen: “I’m asked all the
time now about how the big hotel
chains launching soft brands has
affected our business – frankly, it
hasn’t. Business for us increased 16
per cent last year, and we added
57 new hotels in places like Dubai,
Havana, Panama, the US, Rome
and Japan. This year we have some
really exciting new hotels joining the
brand, including our second Nobu
Hotel in Marbella, The Sukhothai
Shanghai and 7 Secrets Resort and
Wellness Retreat in Lombok, just to
name a few.”
Boyen said SLH’s new look and
feel was not just skin deep. “We
also made quality a real focus for
the business and now all our hotels
are inspected every year – and
hotels that fail these inspections
must leave the brand. This way our
guests know all SLH hotels, whether
a modern city centre hotel, or a
historic country retreat, meet our
strict criteria.”
TTG Asia luxury | May 2018 59