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Global Hotel Alliance, the world’s largest alliance of independent hotel brands, has started its 20th anniversary year on a high note, reporting robust Q1 results across all key performance indicators.

Exceeding expectations, total hotel revenues for Q1 2024 jumped to $649 million, up 17 percent compared to Q1 2023, while total room nights picked up 20 percent and the average daily rate across its portfolio of 800 hotels nudged up 2 percent.

The GHA DISCOVERY loyalty program continued to grow in popularity, with new enrollments increasing 28 percent in the first three months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. At the same time, redemptions of the program’s rewards currency, DISCOVERY Dollars, rocketed 109 percent year-on-year, led by members based in Spain, Singapore and China respectively.

Further underlining the success, the total cross-brand revenue, driven by members staying in a different brand to where they enrolled, increased 32 percent to $86.2 million in Q1, with hotel brands such as Anantara, Kempinski, Pan Pacific and PARKROYAL benefiting the most.

Since launching just over two years ago, D$206 million have been issued to GHA DISCOVERY members, with D$1 equal to $1. This has created a stimulus for travel within the alliance, and has helped drive more direct bookings for hotels, which are up 40 percent on GHA channels in 2023. Nearly two thirds of those direct bookings are now made on the GHA DISCOVERY app.

Key market and member trends in Q1 2024

• International stays made by the 26 million GHA DISCOVERY loyalty program members dominate: 68 percent of hotel room revenues were generated by international stays, led by properties in the Maldives (99 percent of revenue from international stays), Thailand (94 percent) and Hong Kong (86 percent).

• US and UK members were highly influential: 72 percent of the room revenue from US GHA DISCOVERY members and 89 percent of the room revenue from UK members came from their international stays. The US is the most important feeder market for GHA hotel brands, generating $52 million in international room revenue in Q1 2024, followed by the UK with $37 million. This collective $89 million represents 26 percent of total international stays room revenue. 

• 2024 destination hotspots revealed: The most preferred international destinations for each major feeder market were — Saint Lucia for US members; the UAE for members in the UK and Germany; Thailand for members in Russia; Hong Kong for members in mainland China; and Singapore for members based in Australia.

“As we enter our 20th anniversary year, GHA is not only delivering impressive numbers, but tangible business growth to our hotel brands. Our Q1 results also underscore our commitment to providing our GHA DISCOVERY members with unparalleled choice and flexibility; the surge in new enrollments and record-breaking redemptions of D$ reflect their level of engagement with the program,” said GHA CEO Chris Hartley.

Since GHA was launched in 2004, the alliance has grown exponentially to represent a collection of 40 brands with more than 800 hotels, resorts and palaces in 100 countries, and the 26 million members of its GHA DISCOVERY loyalty program, first launched in 2010, now drive $2.3 billion in revenue and 10 million room nights (as of 2023).

“Looking ahead, building on two decades of success, we remain dedicated to delivering exceptional value and experiences, ensuring that GHA continues to be the preferred choice for independent hotel brands and their customers,” added Hartley.