EXCLUSIVE EXPERIENCES
Hotels rolling out one-of-a-kind rewards to entice customers away from Airbnb,
With competitors like Airbnb nipping at their heels, hotels are rolling out experiences to their most faithful customers that go far beyond extra nights and room upgrades.
Want to improve your cooking skills? How about a class with a Michelin-starred chef? Or snorkeling in Hawaii with Jean-Michel Cousteau? Or basketball tips from NBA standout Dwyane Wade?
Marriott, with 30 hotel brands, including Starwood and Ritz-Carlton, and other hotel companies, are marshalling their clout to attract sports stars, including professional surfers and even a National Geographic photographer to create one-of-a-kind enticements.
Dan and Ginger Roberts, of El Dorado Hills, Calif., were drawn to Marriott’s offer of a two-day clinic at the Old Greenwood Golf Course in Lake Tahoe with Annika Sorenstam, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. They used accumulated points from their travels and joined a small group of rewards members in late July to see Sorenstam in action. They were also hoping to get some expert tips on how to improve their golf games.
In rolling out such exclusive experiences, hotels are looking to establish deeper connections with their customers in the face of growing competition from startups. Home rental services like Airbnb claim 12 per cent of the traveller accommodations market, according to a report this year by the market research firm Mintel Research. But that share is expected to grow, especially among travellers who are 40 and younger, and that has prompted hotel brands to rework their rewards programs to cement loyalty with their frequent customers.
“Hotels have started to feel the pinch from encroachment,” said Gina Cavato, an analyst for lifestyles and leisure at Mintel. “They are try- ing to boost loyalty programs by offering unique rewards options.”
The master classes, said David Flueck, Marriott International’s senior vice-president of global loyalty, allow the 100 million members of Marriott Rewards and the Starwood rewards program, SPG, to redeem their loyalty points for sessions with top athletes.
In addition to golf sessions, the classes include basketball skills training at the JW Marriott in Miami. Wade, who has just joined the Cleveland Cavaliers, will conduct hands-on skills and drills on the hotel’s association-size indoor basketball court next summer as part of a two-night package at the hotel.
Participants must bid for the classes with rewards points and some of the most coveted packages are well beyond 300,000 points — which equal a lot of hotel stays.
But Marriott is not just counting on well-known or celebrity experts. The chain also recently took a stake in Place Pass, which provides bookings for a variety of activities, like a private tour of Downton Abbey’s filming locations or a camel safari on Dubai’s red dunes. Those are not necessarily connected to staying at a Marriott or one of its properties.
Hilton Worldwide last year introduced a “Behind the Wheel” program that allows car-loving guests to drive a Lamborghini — with an accompanying instructor — at its Waldorf Astoria hotels properties.
The Waldorf Astoria brand is also working with the James Beard Foundation to allow participating guests to have culinary adventures, including a chef-led tour of the Mahane Yehuda Market for guests at the Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem and a date-themed cooking class at its Ras al Khaimah property in the United Arab Emirates.
The large hotel brands are mindful that right over their shoulder, Airbnb, in particular, is reinventing what travellers expect from a local stay by rolling out smaller-scale experiences and classes, which people can bid on through its site even if they are not staying in an Airbnb rental.