Hotel Loyalty Race: Marriott Leads

The world’s largest hotel groups have made great strides in signing up guests for their loyalty programs in the past several years, and Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, and IHG have enjoyed some of the greatest gains.

Not all hotel groups consistently report their updated counts of loyalty program membership each quarter, but many do.

Here’s a table of the latest publicly disclosed member counts, based on the latest counts as of June 30, except for Accor and IHG. For comparison, we’ve included the Global Hotel Alliance, a rewards program for independently run hotels that’s doubled to 27.7 million members over five years.

Apples to Apples Comparisons of Hotel Loyalty

In the recent State of Travel 2024 report, Skift Research compared figures from the end of 2023 with those from the end of 2019. One chart below shows absolute numbers, while the other reveals the percentage growth over time.

While these numbers are not quite as up-to-date, they more accurately reflect comparisons as each hotel group provided the most up-to-date numbers.

“As a result of marketing campaigns and increased investment into loyalty, the major hotel groups have grown their loyalty programs by double-digits since 2019, with brands like Hyatt doubling its members over the last 4 years,” Skift Research said.

At the start of the year, Skift reported that Hilton had been growing its loyalty program faster than Marriott. If that pattern continued, Hilton could overtake Marriott in membership count next year.