The big brands keep bragging that 70 percent of their bookings come from loyal guests.
It’s the boldest fiction in hospitality.
The loyalty trick is simple.
A guest gives you an email for a discount and suddenly they’re a “loyalty member”.
That’s it.
A perk redeemed.
An inbox captured.
And somehow this gets presented as the foundation of repeat business.
But look at how people actually travel.
More than 50 percent of “loyal” members won’t repeat a stay for even one night in a year.
That’s not loyalty.
Frequent travelers return to the same destinations again and again.
But by the third trip they’ve already chosen their hotel.
If they’re not choosing you then, they probably never will.
But both guests still in your database.
Because brands keep selling the idea that every sign-up equals future demand.
Owners pay into the program.
The program counts anyone with a login as “loyal”.
And everyone pretends this is proof of future performance.
If loyalty is defined by repeat stays, why are we treating one-time discounts like the start of a relationship?
Independents should be encouraged by the loyalty status quo.
You don’t need millions of silent “members”.
You need a few hundred people who come back because they prefer you.
That’s real loyalty.
And it needs no story to make it look bigger.
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