Hotel Loyalty Rankings, Visit Florida’s LGBTQ Snub and VRBO’s New Campaign

Skift Take

Today’s podcast looks at who’s winning the hotel loyalty race, who VRBO is targeting in its latest ads, and how Visit Florida’s website change will affect its relationship with the LGBTQ community.

Rashaad Jordan, Skift

Good morning from Skift. It’s Thursday, August 22, 2024, and now, here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

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Episode Notes

The world’s largest hotel groups have made huge strides in signing up guests for their loyalty programs in recent years. But which one has the largest loyalty program? Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill provides the answer. 

Marriott has the largest loyalty program membership with more than 210 million members as of June 30. Hilton, IHG, and Wyndham occupy the next three spots, with each of them recording more than 100 million members. Skift reported earlier this year that Hilton has grown its loyalty program faster than Marriott, which could result in Hilton overtaking Marriott’s membership count next year. 

Next, Expedia’s short-term rental platform Vrbo is portraying itself as a stress-free alternative to rivals like Airbnb in its latest campaign, writes reporter James Farrell.  

Vrbo’s new campaign is centered around the slogan “Relax, you host on Vrbo.” While none of Vrbo’s ads directly mention Airbnb, Farrell notes Vrbo is taking veiled shots at its biggest rival, explaining the big differences between the two platforms — like Vrbo’s tendency to attract longer-term guests and its fledgling OneKey rewards program. Airbnb is considered an outlier in the hospitality industry due to its lack of a loyalty program. 

One Vrbo ad featuring a man and a boy relaxing in a fishing boat invites hosts to “sit back and attract repeat guests” at their properties. 

Finally, Visit Florida has removed an LGBTQ Travel page from its website. Global Tourism Reporter Dawit Habtemariam examines the impact of its move.

The page provided information on LGBTQ-friendly beaches, destinations, businesses and museums. Habtemariam notes Visit Florida’s decision could further damage relations with LGBTQ travelers, two years after Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by critics. . 

Former Visit St. Pete-Clearwater CEO David Downing said the DMO used to have strong marketing efforts with the LGBTQ community. Other destination marketing organizations in Florida have kept similar pages geared toward LGBTQ travelers on their websites. 

For more travel stories and deep dives into the latest trends, head to skift.com.