Anantara Kihavah Maldives Villas — Photo by Global Hotel Alliance (GHA)

UAE-headquartered Global Hotel Alliance, the world’s largest alliance of 40 independent hotel brands, which this year celebrates its 20^th anniversary, has reported record 2023 results, with every key performance metric hitting an all-time high.

Total room revenue of the GHA DISCOVERY loyalty programme, shared by all brands and their collective 800 hotels, reached US$2.3 billion, surpassing 2022 by more than US$1 billion. This reflects the growth and engagement of the loyalty member base, which crossed the 25 million mark in 2023 and achieved 2.7 million new member enrolments for the year compared to 1.6 million in 2022.

Repeat stay revenue surpassed the billion-dollar mark for the first time, increasing 60% year-on-year to US$1.4 billion, while hotel cross-brand revenue jumped 71% to $289 million, demonstrating GHA DISCOVERY’s successful loyalty model, which incentivizes members to enjoy the programme’s benefits, including earning and spending their DISCOVERY Dollars (D$) rewards currency, across its 40 member brands.

With more members understanding the value of D$ (D$1 equal to US$1) – as easy to redeem as cash toward the bill at checkout - D$ redemptions more than doubled year over year. Redemption spiked during key 2023 holiday periods, with December seeing the highest redemption rate since the rewards currency was launched two years ago.

Key booking preferences of GHA DISCOVERY members in 2023:

• International travel dominates - International stays contributed 60% of all revenue in 2023, with countries receiving the most being the Maldives (100% of all revenue was from international stays), Thailand (90%), Portugal (88%), the Netherlands (83%), UAE (77%), Singapore (75%) and Italy (74%).
• US and UK travellers stay and spend overseas most - The US (US$205 million) and the UK (US$111 million) were the top feeder markets for international stays at GHA properties, followed by Germany (US$67 million), Australia (US$56 million), and China (US$45 million).
• Destination hotspots - Top destinations in terms of international stay room revenue reveal Thailand is the most popular overall, favoured by members in the US (US$10.3 million spend), followed by members in the UK (US$9 million). The UAE is the second most popular overall, favoured by members in the UK (US$16.6 million spend) and members in Russia (US$11 million). Members in the US favoured overseas travel to the Caribbean (US$26 million) and Italy (US$25.3 million) followed by the UK (US$15.7 million), while Australian members preferred Singapore (US$10.1 million).
• GHA booking channels preferred - GHA direct web and app bookings doubled in 2023 (+99% versus 2022), with average spend per member 65% higher on GHA DISCOVERY’s direct channels compared to other third-party channels.