 "Mark Mcgoey")
Hyatt Hotels Corporation is in the midst of expanding its India footprint. This has given a fillip to the hotel chains loyalty programme Hyatt Gold Passport making India one of its fastest growing markets in adding new members, says Mark Mcgoey, the groups director of loyalty marketing for Europe, Africa, Middle East and Southwest Asia in an interaction with Sudipto Dey
How many properties do you have in India?
We have twenty two Hyatt branded hotels in India (around 4,000 rooms), and opening two more by the end of this year. Currently, we have five of our brands in India. The sixth one, Andaz, our lifestyle hotel brand, will open middle of next year (at Delhis Aerocity).
In the next three years we are scheduled to open and operate twenty more properties. Traditionally, we have partnered with strong owners in this market, and operate through the management contract route. We expect almost all our Hyatt brands (with exception of two, Hyatt Zilara and Hyatt Ziva, that are targeted at the Latin American markets) to be in India over the next three years. So Andaz, Hyatt House (long-stay residential property), Hyatt Centric (a new lifestyle brand) are likely to open in India in 2016.
So, 2016 will be a big year?
Each of the next three years we are going to get bigger and bigger. But opening of Andaz will be one of our biggest in a number of years.
How big a market is India for loyalty programmes for the hospitality sector?
The market is estimated to be close to $ 1 billion (for all loyalty programmes). There is lot of opportunity in India, but that draws competition. Hyatt is not the only brand expanding here.
How effective are these programmes?
For us they work really well. What makes us different is the benefits and the service and events that give our guests great experiences (like a recent evening for Gold Passport members with Sir Vivian Richards in Delhi).
Is the Gold Passport programme same across all markets?
I would say around 95 per cent of the programme is standardised across the globe. But in terms of those special things which make the programme different and differentiated, those are customised for the market. For instance, we partnered with Sir Viv and Dean Jones for events in Dubai and Delhi. We didnt do these in United States. There we did events with world renowned chefs and top wine makers. Recently we did an event in London (during the Ashes series) with (former Australia captain) Michael Clarke. We do events with experiences that resonate with our members.
What has been the success rate of the loyalty programme in India?
We have over 2,50,000 members in India. The numbers have grown substantially in the last five-seven years. This has also to do with number of hotels we have in India. Seven years ago we had five hotels.
Today we have twenty-two. India is one of the fastest growing markets for the loyalty programme. We have seen 20 per cent growth in loyalty member numbers over the last three years. My goal is to have at least 20 per cent growth year-on-year, going forward.
What per cent of hotel room nights are consumed by loyalty progamme users in India?
In India, on an average it is about 30-35 per cent. This is slightly above our global average. We are proud of the success of the programme here.
