INTRODUCING DISCOVERY
Our success is underpinned by our award-winning guest recognition programme, DISCOVERY. Originally developed in conjunction with Micros Systems (now Oracle Hospitality), DISCOVERY was launched in 2010 as a shared guest recognition programme for independent hotel brands to use as a powerful, common platform. Our DISCOVERY technology is proprietary to GHA.
AN OWNER-FRIENDLY, LOW-COST PROGRAMME – PROVEN TO DELIVER INCREMENTAL REVENUE
Since its launch, 13 million guests have enrolled into DISCOVERY, producing $1.5 billion in room revenue for our member brands in 2017, including $100 million in cross-brand revenue. DISCOVERY offers our brands (and their hotel owners) a cost-effective and powerful recognition programme, with a membership base to rival the major brands, but without the associated expense of points and free nights.
BUILDING LOYALTY TO YOUR BRAND (NOT GHA)
Importantly, DISCOVERY builds loyalty to your brand, encouraging direct relationships through your website and providing invaluable guest data to assist with your CRM efforts. Over 70% of cross-brand revenue that we produce for our member brands is via brand.com. GHA’s role is more focused on B2B, supporting your B2C relationships. This is in contrast to the marketing consortia and soft brands which build brand loyalty to their brands, and maximise revenue through their channels (rather than your direct channels).
A GUEST RECOGNITION PROGRAMME THAT DRIVES LOYALTY
By avoiding giving guests points, to redeem for free nights, this has been very beneficial for our brands – allowing them to reward their high-value customers, without being penalised with lost room revenue and punitive fees.
Local Experiences are proven to be an effective way to encourage incremental business and higher average spend. Our data shows that when DISCOVERY members redeem their Local Experiences, they spend more on rooms and F&B, they stay longer, they repeat more, and they stay at new brands in the alliance.
COMPETING TOGETHER – TO LEVERAGE SCALE BENEFITS FOR OUR BRANDS
Furthermore, with our combined scale and over 500 hotels, our member brands benefit from scale discounts and preferred agreements with major technology and distribution providers.
Our member brands benefit from preferred pricing agreements with Oracle, Sabre and the large travel management companies, enjoying global preferred status. We also offer brands the option to use our technology, including our sales incentive programme, to promote intra-brand and cross-brand revenue, and utilise our umbrella agreement with meetings procurement firm, HelmsBriscoe.
MINIMAL UPFRONT COST: DESIGNED AS A PLUG-AND-PLAY OPERA SOLUTION
Designed to interface directly with Opera and Suite8 property management systems, DISCOVERY interfaces directly at PMS level. This requires a simple onsite installation for individual PMS or multi-property PMS setup. In addition to Opera, interfaces are in development for hotels using non-Opera PMS.
INTRODUCING A NEW RECOGNITION PROGRAMME, OR ENHANCING AN EXISTING ONE
Whether you are planning to introduce a new recognition programme for your brand, or considering ways to enhance or reboot an existing programme and increase your marketing return on investment (whilst still maintaining your brand identity and independence), DISCOVERY provides an attractive and powerful platform to encourage repeat guests, and attract new guests to your hotels, at a low cost of acquisition.
AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH FOR LUXURY HOTELS
Within GHA’s 500 hotels, these are segmented from midscale to upscale to luxury. With those luxury hotels in mind, GHA created the [Ultratravel Collection], which accounts for around 15% of GHA member hotels. Ultratravel Collection operates as an elite segment of DISCOVERY, with a separate website featuring only those hotels selected to be in Ultratravel Collection, as well as separate CRM and social media strategies.
Ultratravel Collection provides a powerful alternative to the soft brands and marketing consortia. Leveraging the same powerful database of 13 million guests, we focus on delivering high marketing ROIs in contrast to legacy providers that lack our proprietary technology and have much fewer guests to market to.
Importantly, Ultratravel Collection is open for individual, luxury hotels to join (unlike GHA, which is solely for brands to join), and we do not prohibit hotels from working with various marketing consortia. We act in the hotel’s interest; ultimately giving hotel owners the best
of both worlds. Indeed, the Ultratravel Collection includes hotels which only participate in Ultratravel Collection, as well as hotels that participate in Ultratravel Collection and one of the marketing consortiums.
A GENUINE SPIRIT OF COLLABORATION
Building on the model of alliances in the airline industry, Global Hotel Alliance operates as an alliance for its member brands’ benefit. With an active CEO Committee and Alliance Strategy Board, made up of our members, our brands have a strong voice to shape the way the alliance works to their mutual success. Indeed, our brands are the best advocates of the value the alliance brings.