Loyalty scheme boosts revenue at Preferred Hotel Group
The Preferred Hotel Group sales and marketing consortium has announced a 19% year-on-year increase in reservations revenue for the first quarter of 2014.
Representing more than 650 hotels worldwide, the US-based business said that a key factor of its growth has been the repeat stays and spend since its iPrefer guest loyalty programme introduced a points-based structure eight months ago.
The programme has seen a 52% incease in membership and a 120% in active members (members with at least one stay). Members of iPrefer have spent an average of $110 (£65) more per booking than non-members.
Lindsey Ueberroth, president and chief executive of the group, said: "Last month marked the tenth anniversary of my family taking ownership of Preferred Hotel Group, so we are proud to see strategic growth and other important milestones continuously achieved on behalf of our company and our member hotels.
"The to-date performance results for iPrefer are impressive. More and more, travellers are favouring the independent hotel experience, but they still want the perks, specifically points and added recognition through status tiers, that the hard-brand loyalty programmes provide."
The Preferred Hotel Group added 29 properties to its portfolio between January and March, including the 19-bedroom Lower Slaughter Manor in Gloucestershire. The group now has 17 hotels in the UK.