Most dramatically, no member of the Hilton HHonors, Radisson Gold Rewards or the Starwood Preferred Guest programs could identify all the Hilton, Radisson or Starwood hotel brands participating in the respective programs.

Special kudos must be given to the marketing and communications group at Choice Privileges as a large majority of their members correctly identified all six hotel brands that participate in the program (i.e., Clarion, Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Main Stay, Quality Inn, and Sleep Inn). In comparison, less than one in three Marriott Rewards members could name all of the participating Marriott brands. 

Phoenix Marketing International�s Hotel SCORES study surveyed nearly 4,000 members of hotel frequent guest programs and probed awareness, membership, usage and perception questions regarding more than a dozen hotel frequent guest programs. According to Greg Diaz, Vice President - Travel Research Group at Phoenix Marketing International "Hotel SCORES was designed to fill a void in the industry knowledge bank by focusing on not just the upscale hotel programs, but also on those programs offered by the moderate and economy lodging segments. In addition, by focusing on both airline and auto travelers, Hotel SCORES gives a more complete picture of the perceptions and value of hotel frequent guest programs."

Why is it important for hotel frequent guest programs to communicate the lodging brands that participate in their programs?

Diaz indicated that data from Hotel SCORES shows that two-out-of-five frequent guest program members claim that programs influence their lodging choice a significant amount of the time. An additional two-out-of-five claim that these programs sometimes influence their decision of hotel selection.

While these are strong indicators of the value of hotel frequent guest programs, an even greater indicator of program value and the importance of communicating brand participation in a program was the following� one-third (32%) of all frequent guest members indicated that if their preferred hotel chain was not available at a location, they would first look to an alternative hotel that was part of their preferred program.

Diaz believes that, "The message to communicate all hotel brands in a hotel frequent guest program could not be clearer. Increased chain awareness can have a positive effect on revenue and it will help keep a valued customer from staying at, and potentially becoming more active in a competitor program." 

The data from Phoenix Marketing International�s Hotel SCORES study yields a 95% confidence level with an accuracy of +/-1.6%.

Phoenix Marketing International is one of the premier marketing services firms serving the travel industry. Through a combination of custom market research products and services, syndicated research products and sales optimization modeling, PhoenixMI partners with clients to generate sound business and marketing opportunities and produce measurable sales results and a return-on-investment on marketing development expenses. PhoenixMI has offices in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Florida and Illinois. Visit Phoenix Marketing International on the web at www.PhoenixMI.com