UAE-headquartered Global Hotel Alliance (GHA), the world’s largest alliance of independent hotel brands, celebrated its 20th anniversary this week in Berlin at the International Hospitality Investment Forum (IHIF), where the then start-up was first announced in 2004.

GHA was the loyalty partner of the IHIF EMEA event, which welcomed over 2,500 attendees from around the globe, and GHA CEO Chris Hartley shared his insights on the power of partnerships on the main stage.

GHA was conceived along the airline alliance model, with the goal of helping independent hotel brands to compete with the major global players, and to become less dependent on high-cost third parties for distribution.

The majority of the alliance’s 800 hotels are owner-operated and GHA gives them the tools, technology and marketing reach that are difficult to achieve alone.

“The hospitality industry has seen significant consolidation over the last two decades, making it costlier for the smaller players to maintain market share; nonetheless, many owners remain fiercely independent, and so collaboration with like-minded independent brands is a great way to remain competitive”, said Hartley.

“We are majority-owned by two of our founder member brands Kempinski and Pan Pacific Hotels Group, plus Minor and Corinthia, and our primary goal has always been to drive incremental revenue and reduce costs for their hotels, rather than to maximize profit for the alliance.”

GHA now has 40 brands with 800 hotels in 100 countries and continues to grow. In Q1 alone, the alliance welcomed The Lore Group and Cheval Collection as its latest member brands, as well as launching a partnership with Plum Guide, offering rewards for stays at its 38,000 luxury vacation homes.

All GHA member brands and hotels share one loyalty platform – GHA Discovery – which in 2023 delivered $2.3 billion in total revenue and 10 million room nights from its 26 million members; and the unique, multi-brand loyalty program has won 120 awards for its programme innovation.

To commemorate two decades of success, the GHA team was joined by its shareholders, brand executives, and hundreds of industry guests back at the iconic Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin this Tuesday evening for a 20th anniversary party, where it all began in 2004, dancing the night away to the legendary Boney M, who had performed at the same venue all those years ago.

Reflecting on the last two decades, Hartley concluded: “We are proud to celebrate 20 years of collaboration, and hope that we can continue to grow and help the independent hotel sector to thrive in an increasingly competitive marketplace.” – TradeArabia News Service