Hotel Offers Rise as Sales Continue to Fall

I’ve reported on many, many [% 2811432 | | hotel bonus-point promotions %] over the past month or so. No wonder—the combination of the traditionally soft winter travel season and the worldwide economic slowdown has pushed down occupancy rates and, consequently, raised the hotels’ levels of desperation and marketing activity.

The great majority of those offers are scheduled to end on April 30 or thereabout. Now I’m beginning to see promotions for stays well beyond April, which would seem to suggest hotels have bleak expectations for travel through summer and into the fall.

Wyndham Rewards members, for example, can earn double points or airline miles for qualifying stays at AmeriHost, Baymont, Days Inn, Hawthorn Suites, Howard Johnson, Knights Inn, Ramada, Super 8, Travelodge (U.S. hotels only), Wingate, and Wyndham hotels completed before June 6. (Note, though, that bookings must be made by May 7 to qualify for the bonus.)

Hyatt is offering 5,000 bonus points for stays of two or more nights at participating Hyatt hotels in the Pacific Northwest through June 30.

And Omni Hotels is offering Select Guest members triple miles in the American AAdvantage or United Mileage Plus programs for qualifying stays through September 30.

It’s too soon to call this a trend, but with no end to the travel slump in sight, there’s every reason to think that more such offers are in the pipeline.