Accor Launches New Loyalty Program and 8 Other Hospitality Trends This Week

Accor Rebrands and Launches a New Loyalty Program: Accor’s Sebastien Bazin seems to be less keen about acquisitions these days. Instead, he is looking at Accor internally and aims to fix the chain’s rather dismal loyalty program. Sports, dining, and entertainment are key experiences that the new loyalty program will address.

Oyo Partners With Yahoo to Bring Its New Home Rental Model to Japan: India’s Oyo should feel at home in Japan, home of its biggest financier SoftBank. But will this automatically translate to success for Oyo, which will compete in what’s becoming an increasingly crowded hotel and homestay space?

Best Western Plugs Luxury Gap by Buying WorldHotels: Is this the beginning of a new cycle of global hotel chains buying independent hotel groups? As competition intensifies for soft brands, more of such consolidations should not surprise anyone.

Wyndham Is Changing Back Its Loyalty Program to Be More Like Everyone Else’s: Does this mean that Wyndham’s experiment in creating a simple, straightforward loyalty program for the everyday traveler failed? Maybe, but not necessarily. It just means that there are some laws in travel loyalty programs that are there for a reason.

Taj Hotels to Enter Homesharing With New Amã Brand: On March 1, Taj Hotels will start taking bookings for its official foray into homesharing with its new brand, Amã, with nine bungalows. It’s further proof of the Skift Megatrend that in hospitality, “everything is converging.”

InterContinental Launching an All-Suite Brand: IHG already has a couple of all-suite brands in its mainstream segment, so how will its new offering be any different? We’ll have to wait to find out.

The New Signia Hilton Is Designed for Meetings and Events: In other words, think of the Signia Hilton as Hilton’s take on Crowne Plaza, Marriott Marquis, Sheraton Grand, and Dolce Hotels.

Marriott and Accor Each Have a New Partnership With European Football Giants: The hotel giants are harnessing the world’s favorite sport to get the word out about their new loyalty programs. This is a smart move which should give the brands lots of visibility, and entice soccer fans.

IHG Confirms Plans to Add Dynamic Pricing to Hotel Award Bookings: IHG plans to experiment with moving award pricing in its Rewards Club loyalty program to a dynamic model, which will allow it to price rooms according to demand. The details — and the impact on loyalty program members — will take shape through the year.