With 13 hotels in India, including 11 under The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts, and one Araiya and Oaks, the world’s largest alliance of independent hotel brands, Global Hotel Alliance (GHA), is looking to leverage the growing travel economy in India. For the UAE-headquartered player, the total revenue of the alliances’ brands in India surged to $68 million in 2023, marking a 41% year-on-year increase and a 4% rise compared with the 2019 figures. Christopher Hartley, chief executive officer, Global Hotel Alliance, who was in India recently, spoke to Vaishali Dar about changing travel preferences, unique benefits of loyalty programmes, and why India is one of the world’s fastest-growing travel markets. Edited excerpts:
After 17 years of collaboration with Leela Hotels and Resorts in India, are you looking at any new brand partnerships?
Global Hotel Alliance will need to expand to be able to fully leverage the growing travel economy in India. With 13 hotels here already, we anticipate more brands joining our network in India in the near future. We will seek brands that are present in prominent locations, where either we currently lack presence or in major cities where the market can easily absorb multiple hotels, like we have in Singapore and London for example. We aim to broaden our segment base as well, including 4-star (upscale) hotels, as well as luxury resorts that integrate wellness, adventure, exploration, and leisure, catering to the international inbound audience. Our partner, Minor Hotels, is also keen on expanding their footprint in the country, and adding to their Oaks Hotel, there is the upcoming Anantara Jaipur Hotel later this year.
How much potential do you see in the Indian market?
Projections indicate that international travel from India will match the outbound levels of China within the next 15 years, which could represent as many as 100 million outbound trips by 2040. Currently, we have 540,000 GHA Discovery members residing in India, reflecting a 21% annual growth over 2023, and our short-term goal is to reach one million members in India. Acknowledging the untapped potential in India, particularly where our presence is limited, we are collaborating with The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts to explore opportunities for alignment. Partnering with a major Indian airline presents a promising prospect, potentially involving initiatives like status matching or facilitating experiences with Discovery Dollars (D$). Extending the GHA Discovery status through collaboration with a local bank is something that has been successful in other markets.
How relevant are alliances like yours and what tangible benefits can they offer hotel brands?
As the world’s largest alliance of independent hotel brands, we have 40 independent member brands, representing 800 hotels, all of which participate in our multi-brand loyalty programme, GHA Discovery. Through membership in GHA, brands expand their global reach, drive incremental revenue, and reduce dependence on third-party channels, all while maintaining management independence and individual positioning. In 2023 every key performance metric hit an all-time high. The total room revenue of the GHA Discovery loyalty programme, shared by all brands and their collective 800 hotels, reached $2.3 billion, surpassing 2022 by more than $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 enrollments 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 $1.4 billion, while hotel cross-brand revenue jumped 71% to $289 million, demonstrating GHA Discovery’s successful loyalty model, which incentivises members to enjoy the programme’s benefits, including earning and spending their Discovery Dollars (D$) rewards currency across its 40 member brands. It also means hotels are receiving incremental revenue from GHA Discovery members staying and earning D$ at one property and redeeming them as part of their stay at another, generating new customers for hotels.
What is your company’s USP? How are you different?
Global Hotel Alliance stands out as a younger and smaller collective, emphasising the luxurious essence of our brands. With our portfolio of 800 hotels, we offer a diverse range of brands, blending local charm like The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts in India or Kempinski Hotels which has over 100 years of history in Germany, or the Lungarno Collection in Italy, owned by the Ferragamo family. This sets us apart from competitors like Marriott or Hilton, whose brands lack distinctiveness. Furthermore, our GHA Discovery rewards currency, which is only two years old, diverges from traditional points programmes, offering flexibility and transparency. Unlike programmes that simply accumulate points for free nights, our currency can be converted to any currency and used like a cash card worldwide, with the convenience of payment at checkout. This approach prioritises recognition, especially for Titanium travellers, something we found our Indian members see as added value.
What, according to you, are the top markets in terms of global tourism and where have you generated the highest revenue from stays made with GHA Discovery members? Where does India stand in your loyalty programme ratings?
US and UK travellers stay and spend most of their time overseas. The US ($205 million) and the UK ($111 million) were the top feeder markets for international stays at GHA properties in 2023, followed by Germany ($67 million), Australia ($56 million), and China ($45 million). The total revenue of the alliance brands in India surged to $68 million in 2023, marking a remarkable 41% year-on-year increase and a 4% rise compared to 2019 figures.
Notably, there was a substantial 40% growth in member spending in India last year, accompanied by a 21% increase in the member base. Despite the significant spending growth, the $68-million total spend in India represents merely 3% of the overall loyalty spend, indicating immense potential for further growth. Comparatively, our US market constitutes approximately 10% of the total spend. Given the considerable market size of India, which surpasses that of the US, there’s a clear opportunity to close the gap in spending between the two regions. Although the US boasts the largest outbound population in terms of travel numbers, the potential for increased spending in India remains substantial.
What role does technology play in GHA? Are there solutions and integration platforms offered to member brands and their hotels? Please specify.
Oracle, one of the five shareholders in our joint venture company, provides the software utilised for collecting loyalty data and operating GHA Discovery, a multi-brand loyalty programme that leverages a unified technology platform. By using a centralised technology platform, we are able to have one view of our loyal customers across all our different brands, enabling us to recognise them at each of our hotels, regardless of which brand they originally enrolled in. Likewise sharing hotel rates and inventory, our GHA Discovery members can book all of our hotels and ensure that their loyalty profile is attached to their bookings, which ensures they can earn and burn our Discovery Dollar (D$) rewards in all of our hotels.