Spire Elite is the name of InterContinental Hotels Group?s new top membership level of its IHG Rewards Club. To celebrate the launch, world renowned travel photographer Steve McCurry ? best known for his 1984 photographic portrait ?Afghan Girl? ? joins forces with what is claimed to be the world?s biggest hotel loyalty programme ?to capture how a moment of recognition is brought to life? through three photographs. Each photograph ?depicts that unique and treasured moment at which one person recognises another.?
Spire Elite rewards its most loyal members, with the most relevant benefits.?This comes following research into what IHG Rewards Club members want from their loyalty programme, which identified the importance of recognition to members who want to feel rewarded for their loyalty.
Susanna Freer Epstein, IHG?s senior VP Customer Loyalty, says:??The feeling that you?re recognised for being special is what IHG Rewards Club aims to deliver with the launch of Spire Elite. It?s our way of saying thank you to our most loyal members, who from today will benefit from the ability to earn 100 percent extra bonus points on all qualifying stays across the IHG hotel portfolio ? an industry first.?
The global research revealed that the key ways in which IHG Rewards Club members expect hospitality brands to show them recognition, are:
* Providing the chance to feel part of a special ?club?;
* Identifying a guest as someone unique, who is ?not just a number?;
* Remembering something about the individual ? their likes, dislikes and preferences; and
* Providing a reward, a ?thank you??for achieving something
Spire Elite membership can be reached by earning 75,000 qualifying reward points or staying at an IHG hotel for 75 qualifying nights over the course of a calendar year. Spire Elite members can also choose between receiving 25,000 points, or upgrading a friend or family member to Platinum.
IHG unveils its Spire Elite top-level loyalty programme
