Global Hotel Alliance and Discovery Destinations combine global brand recognition and award-winning loyalty to take the lead in the experiential travel space
Dubai, 2016-Dec-14 — /Travel PR News/ — Discovery Destinations Hotels & Resorts (“Discovery Destinations”) has joined Global Hotel Alliance (“GHA”) as its latest member brand, while at the same time creating a new, eponymous category of hotels within the growing GHA portfolio. This re-affirms GHA’s loyalty platform, DISCOVERY, as the most recognised name in the world of experiential travel.
Discovery Destinations is an official travel licensee of Discovery Communications, which itself is the world’s number one pay-TV programmer reaching three billion cumulative subscribers in virtually every country. For 30 years Discovery Communications has been satisfying curiosity and entertaining viewers with high-quality content through its global brands, led by the householdfavourite Discovery Channel.
Chris Hartley, GHA’s CEO, is excited about all the opportunities this creates: “partnering with Discovery Destinations will provide our current member brands with unparalleled marketing opportunities to expand their reach beyond the traditional hospitality channels while, at the same time, providing our current loyalty programme members with a curated portfolio of unique properties, which each carry a seal of approval from one of the most recognised adventure and exploration brands in the world.”
Discovery Destinations’ current collection of properties include the expansive, such as the 150,000-acre Ladder Ranch in South Central New Mexico; the wild, such as the 25,000-acre Kariega Game Reserve in South Africa’s Eastern Cape; and the renowned, such as the famed Sundance Mountain Resort in Utah and the Miraval Resort & Spa in Tucson, Arizona.
Andy MacLellan of Discovery Destinations, who was in Abu Dhabi for the signing ceremony at GHA’s annual member brand CEO meeting, sees endless possibilities as two separate Discoverybranded hospitality companies join forces in the experiential travel space: “never has the word Discovery been more meaningful than it is today to a growing global population of aspiring travellers. Between Discovery Destinations and GHA’s DISCOVERY loyalty programme, we will reach up to 100 million customers with the message that the future of travel is about discovering more and experiencing something different. Together, we not only have a vast audience to communicate this message to, but we are able to offer some of the most amazing products for all travel aficionados to discover.”
Integration of Discovery Destinations into GHA will be completed by spring of 2017, at which time DISCOVERY loyalty members will be recognised and rewarded across the Discovery Destinations portfolio.
Editor’s Notes:
About Global Hotel Alliance
Founded in 2004, and based on the airline alliance model, Global Hotel Alliance (“GHA”) is today the world’s largest alliance of independent hotel brands. GHA uses a shared technology platform to drive incremental revenues and create cost savings for its member brands, and operates a multi-brand loyalty programme, DISCOVERY, which has over 9 million members. GHA’s member brands are currently: Alila, Anantara, Art Series, Atura, AVANI, Corinthia, Doyle Collection, Discovery Destinations, Elewana Collection, First, GLO, Kempinski, Leela, Lungarno Collection, Marco Polo, Meritage Collection, Meydan, Mokara, Omni, Outrigger, NICCOLO, NUO, Pan Pacific, PARKROYAL, PER AQUUM, QT, Rixos, Rydges, Shaza, Tangram, Thon, Tivoli, Ultratravel Collection and Viceroy, encompassing over 550 upscale and luxury hotels with 110,000 rooms across 76 different countries. For more information visit gha.com
About DISCOVERY programme
DISCOVERY is about making travel unforgettable. The 9 million members of the programme receive recognition and rewards across 550 hotels, resorts, palaces and spas. Local Experiences, the innovative rewards of the DISCOVERY programme, are unique, authentic experiences, which are curated by each hotel to give a taste of local traditions and culture. Members also receive stay benefits, such as complimentary Wi-Fi, room upgrades and enhanced personal recognition as they move through the membership levels, each and every time they stay within the portfolio. For more information visit discoveryloyalty.com
About Discovery Destinations Hotels & Resorts
Discovery Destinations is a unique hospitality brand offering travelers Discovery-inspired vacations that encapsulate the spirit of adventure and the thrill of exploration. A collaboration between Discovery Consumer Products, the licensing arm of Discovery Communications, and Scottford Hospitality, a multipleservice hospitality firm headquartered in Atlanta, GA, Discovery Destinations brings together a collection of hotels and resorts from around the world with the common theme of igniting curiosity and inspiring guests to explore the world around them. For more information on Discovery Destinations please visit discoverydestinations.com
Media Contacts:
Global Hotel Alliance
Mr. Christopher Ahlgrim
Head of Development, The Americas
+1 215 490 9988
christopher.ahlgrim@gha.com
Discovery Destinations Hotels & Resorts
Mrs. Randi Tucker
Marketing Communications Director
+1 404-432-6680
rtucker@discoverydestinations.com
Source: Global Hotel Alliance