Hotel brands have suddenly discovered owner economics. Funny how that happens when owners start complaining about fees en masse. Here’s how the Big Four are responding:
- Hyatt: Cut IT implementation fees for new openings and says PMS costs to owners are down about 40%.
- Hilton: Launched RISE and cut loyalty fees by 30 basis points globally (that’s 0.3% for those of us who still have to Google basis points).
- Marriott: Offering qualifying hotels a rebate of up to 0.5% of room revenue for hitting guest-satisfaction targets.
- IHG: Not really cutting fees. Instead, it’s adding marketing, digital, training and group-sales support for franchisees.
The important difference? Who’s paying. Marriott’s rebate comes out of Marriott’s pocket. Some of IHG’s earlier savings came from the system fund, which owners already help fund. And I’d be willing to bet Hyatt negotiated a pretty sweet PMS deal before passing those savings along. There’s a difference between giving owners money back and rearranging their money.
Marriott’s maximum rebate works out to 50 cents on a $100 room. For Hawaiʻi, where labor, taxes and operating costs aren’t exactly bargain-basement, every little bit helps. But let’s not confuse a little help with a fundamental change in owner economics.
Want to dive deeper? Marriott’s rebate | IHG’s approach
