White Paper: A Case For Points-Driven Destination Loyalty Networks
“Would you sign up for your city’s branded travel loyalty program?”
Would you sign up for your city's branded travel loyalty program? What if it gave you exclusive discounts with your favorite independent hotels? What if it doubled as your local coffee shop punch card? What if it helped employ your friends and family? What value would it need to create for you? What would such a program look like? Can it be done?
In this white paper, we explore the concept of points-driven loyalty programs for destinations, and offer a model for how local stakeholders can work to drive economic development, by channeling more visitor spend toward local merchants.
Airlines have points-driven incentive programs, hotel chains have them, credit cards have them, and travel booking sites have them. Why not destinations? Can cities and regions issue their own points to raise budgets and develop branded, rewards-driven initiatives as part of their visitor attraction strategies?
We argue that destination marketers are in a unique position to take the lead by utilizing existing resources and connections to local communities. We also show how points initiatives can help destination marketing organizations (DMOs) close the revenue gap facing these entities globally.