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A recent survey of its GHA DISCOVERY loyalty programme members revealed travel sentiment for the year ahead is highly positive, with most respondents comfortable travelling internationally. The chance to ‘see and experience new things’ is the primary travel motivation, as the chance to spend time with family and friends. At the same time, cities are the most desirable holiday hotspots for 2023, followed by beach destinations.

“Trends revealed in our survey paint a very positive picture for leisure travel in 2023, with our members signalling an overwhelming desire to globetrot, try new experiences and connect with family and friends, building on the momentum of this past year,” said GHA VP Kristi Gole.

The top three factors influencing hotel and accommodation choices next year are location, price and loyalty programme. In contrast, discounts and savings and perks such as room upgrades, which are core benefits of the GHA DISCOVERY programme, are crucial to enriching their hotel experience.

Japan has emerged as the preferred country in 2023, named on top of all leisure travel hotspots, although most members plan to travel mainly within their regions. With more than D$57M in circulation, thanks to a bumper 2022, our 22 million members can action their 2023 travel plans, choosing from any of GHA’s 800-plus hotels in leading destinations worldwide. The results are particularly encouraging against a backdrop of global economic uncertainty and with members telling us value for money and loyalty programme benefits are now most influencing their hotel booking decisions.

Global Hotel Alliance (GHA), the world’s largest alliance of independent hotel brands, has identified five clear global travel trends for 2023.

The re-imagination of GHA DISCOVERY, launched a year ago, becomes even more relevant with our new digital rewards currency, DISCOVERY Dollars (D$), adding more value to each stay. Members are more likely to travel for leisure than the business next year, with some planning up to six getaways. D$ are earned on spend across the hotel and are redeemable at checkout toward room charges, dining, spa, and a host of curated experiences.

TOP FIVE GLOBAL TRAVEL TRENDS FOR 2023

Members from most countries plan to travel with a ‘spouse or partner’ or ‘immediate family’ and clearly prefer cities – the preferred location for leisure trips for members followed by beach/tropical destinations. Staying with the loyalty theme, across all regions, respondents prefer to use hotel loyalty programme channels to research accommodation choices more than online travel agents or brands’ or hotels’ websites and see the loyalty programme as a close second for preferred booking channel after the hotel’s direct website. Across all countries, members are more likely to travel for leisure than the business next year, planning on average between four and six leisure trips versus two to four business trips.

When asked, ‘If you are a member of a hotel’s loyalty programme, what is most important to you regarding your hotel experience?’, members named discounts or savings as the most important aspect, followed by hotel benefits such as a room upgrade. Regarding the frequency of trips, members from China and Germany expect to travel the most next year, with 6.1 and 5.9 leisure trips and 4.8 and 4.5 business trips anticipated, respectively. Australians are remaining in Oceania for business but heading to Asia for leisure; members from the UK and Malaysia are looking to Europe for business trips and Asia for vacations; Canadians are favouring Europe for business but North America for leisure, and Germans prefer North America for business visits and Europe for holidays.

Japan surprises, regional travel dominates.

Japan emerged as a preferred country in 2023, named in the top four leisure travel hotspots by members across countries globally. When asked what they were most looking forward to when travelling for leisure in 2023, members in every market said ‘seeing and experiencing new things’, with ‘spending time with family and friends the second most popular response.
Longing for leisure, with up to six trips planned

Travel sentiment is highly favourable, with more than half of respondents in every market comfortable travelling internationally in 2023.

Location, location, location – and value.

Location and price will be the top factors influencing hotel and accommodation choices in 2023, indicating that travellers from most markets are value-conscious. Members plan to mainly travel within their regions again next year, particularly those based in China, most likely due to ongoing travel restrictions, Singapore, Thailand, the US and the UAE. Quality of accommodation is also in the mix, ranked highly by UK, US, Canada, Australian and UAE members when selecting properties for leisure stays next year.

This not only reflects the user-friendliness of the GHA DISCOVERY mobile app and website but GHA’s extraordinary collection of 40-plus independent hotel brands with more than 800 properties in 100 countries across the globe, all in one stop. The most bullish markets are the UK, with 85% of member respondents intending to travel internationally, followed by the UAE and Singapore, with 83% and 81%, respectively. Reinforcing the popularity and success of GHA DISCOVERY, the hotel loyalty programme was named the third most crucial factor impacting decision-making.

Specific destinations favoured globally include cities such as Tokyo, Bangkok, London, Paris, and Singapore, while Chinese members favour Beijing, Shanghai, and Sanya.

Experiences count, as does family time in buzzing cities.

There are few plans to travel with pets, but Europe is the most comfortable region.

A love for loyalty. Mountain and countryside locations were on their travel radar but not as popular.