Founded in 2004 by four hotel chains, the Global Hotel Alliance (GHA) manages a joint loyalty program today involving 45 brands, with 850 properties in over 100 countries. The short-term goal is to recruit more independent brands to surpass the 1,000 hotels mark in the near future.
To compete with the loyalty programs of major international hotel groups, the leaders of Kempinski (Europe), Rydges Hotels (Australia), Pan Pacific Hotels (Asia-Pacific), and Wyndham International (Americas) established the Global Hotel Alliance based on the model of airline alliances such as SkyTeam, OneWorld, or Star Alliance. Since its foundation, Wyndham has left the Alliance, but many other groups have joined, including Minor Hotels, bringing in the NH Group, Corinthia, Leela Hotels in India, and more recently, Rotana in the Middle East and Cinnamon in Sri Lanka.
For their annual meeting, 35 of the 45 hotel chain CEOs currently part of the program gathered at the Corinthia Astoria in Brussels, which was inaugurated just a few months ago.
Chris Hartley, the GHA CEO, confirmed the positive results for 2024 and shared the ambitions for 2025 and the following years. Reservations from the 35 million members of the Discovery program, who booked via the GHA’s eponymous website in 2024, generated 11 million room nights and $2.7 billion in revenue.
This figure has been steadily growing over the past three years, and in 2025, despite geopolitical disruptions, the trend continues with an 11% increase in room nights for the first quarter and a 15% increase in revenue.
One other aspect of development is to enlarge the Green Collection, these properties benefitting from a label or certification from one of the various recognized organizations for sustainable development. As of today, 52% of the properties are part of the Green Collection. The objective is to gather as much more as possible. According to the CEO, the "green" members receive between 10 to 20% more bookings than the ones without a label.
$3 billions in revenue, that's the target for 2025
In the face of giants like Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton HHonors, or IHG Rewards, the Alliance focuses exclusively on the premium segment, emphasizing the strong regional identity of each brand and its stated independence.
The growing competition to capture international clientele is pushing the Alliance to expand even further, though its current leaders remain keen to preserve the “Club” dimension that brings members together.
Chris Hartley announced a pipeline of several regional chains that face the growing customer acquisition costs and are not willing to rely on the all-powerful OTAs.
An objective of 1,000 hotels throughout the planet
The goal of reaching 1,000 hotels across all continents is in sight.
The priority is to fill the underrepresented areas, especially in the Americas, a continent that accounts for the majority of customers booking through GHA member chains.
While priority is given to national or regional chains, Chris Hartley does not rule out seeking large independent properties as long as they have strong personalities and desirable locations.
The Discovery program, which allows members to accumulate "Discovery Dollars," a virtual currency to be spent at participating properties, is expanding to include other partners such as cruise lines, like Seven Seas Cruises, and restaurant chains to make membership even more attractive to international travelers.
Members typically benefit from an average 10% discount on the displayed price when booking directly on the GHAdiscovery.com website.
