Accor and H World Group aren’t just linking loyalty programs. They’re linking distribution. The agreement, announced last week, opens up their loyalty programs and booking platforms across China, Europe, and the Middle East, giving both companies access to a combined 430 million members.
But a membership is not a booking. Whether the partnership succeeds depends on how many of those members actually book a room on the other side.
The partnership starts with a limited set of hotels and select benefits, with only around 240 hotels. But in interviews with Skift, Accor Deputy CEO Jean-Jacques Morin and H World Chief Strategy Officer Jihong He described a far bigger endpoint: the whole of both portfolios, cross-sold across their platforms.
“You start with a small footstep, and then it opens up the door,” Morin said.
H World’s He described the same goal, saying that they’d like to “be able to offer each other’s members all the
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