Starwood Summer Promo Includes All Properties

The new Starwood Preferred Guest promotion has been revealed.  It was announced on Milepoint late last week, and then a full press release came out as well.

It’s pretty straight forward, 1,000 bonus Starpoints for all stays 2 nights or longer that include a Friday, Saturday or Sunday night.  It starts in June (no specific start date announced yet) and runs through the end of August, 2015.

For the first time in as long as I can remember, all properties are included in the promotion.  That might not sound like a big deal, but I’ve been critical of SPG about the number of properties not participating in previous promos.  It only seems just to point out when they do the thing I keep imploring them to do.

Now, business travelers aren’t going to like this promo, since the majority of that travel happens Monday through Thursday.  And, the 2-night minimum stings.  But, this is the reality of 2015 in the travel industry.  Starwood reported a 5.7% growth in REVPAR (Revenue Per Available Room) in the Americas in the first quarter of 2015 as compared to the same period last year.  Additionally, in properties owned by Starwood, they saw an increase in occupancy of 3.4% to an average of 72%.

Though the numbers aren’t this linear, if every hotel that relied primarily on business travelers were sold out Monday through Thursday, that would be an occupancy rate of approximately 57%.  So, occupancy in the low 70s doesn’t leave a ton of rooms to fill systemwide at the properties that traditionally maintain high occupancy.

1,000 bonus Starpoints per stay also isn’t over the top, but it beats a sharp stick in the eye.  Last quarter’s promo (which featured double Starpoints on stays of 2 or more nights and a 1,000 point bonus every 5 nights) was more lucrative.  That’s not surprising, given the first quarter tends to be a bit softer than other quarters of the year.

My Prediction?

This will be near the top in terms of rewarding promotions for the Q2/Q3 timeframe.  At least one major chain will probably not release a promo in the next couple of months (or have a sizable gap between promos).  It’s salad days for the hotel industry, and they don’t need to fall all over each other to get our business right now.

The post Starwood Summer Promo Includes All Properties was published first on Pizza In Motion.

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