Hyatt offers last-minute Pride packages via experience-focused Find platform

Dive Brief:

• Hyatt has created a series of experiential travel packages around NYC Pride and World Pride this month, according to a company press release. The deals are exclusively available to loyalty members via World of Hyatt’s Find platform.     

• Through June 19, members can use their loyalty points to bid on a trio of deals, including: a three-night stay at The Beekman hotel in New York City, which comes with two VIP tickets to the sold-out Pride Island events on June 29-30; a three-night stay at Hotel 50 Bowery, with two VIP tickets each for Savor Pride on June 28 and a parade viewing and the Closing Ceremony on June 30; and four VIP tickets apiece for the Opening Ceremony on June 26, Savor Pride and the Closing Ceremony.  

• Outside of the special loyalty packages, the hotel chain is running promotions and activations in Hyatt locations in New York City and around the globe that recognize Pride, such as a Keith Haring exhibition at the Park Hyatt New York and an LGBT+ book library celebrating authors from the community at the Andaz 5th Avenue. The full list of events is available to view in the release.   

Dive Insight:

Hyatt is using its large hotel network in New York City to make the most of the city’s first-ever hosting of World Pride, which is expected to draw millions of tourists and local attendees looking to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community and the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. The brand is specifically courting loyalty members who might’ve missed out on booking a trip to NYC Pride, opening last-minute travel accommodations in premium locations and tickets to otherwise sold-out events.

Hyatt is also using the campaign to spotlight its Find platform, which launched last year as a means for the company grow an experience business focused on food, drink, fitness, relaxation and exploration. Find comes as a response to not only traditional hotel competitors, but also digital disruptors like Airbnb, which offer similarly curated total travel packages to users.   

Other marketers are leaning into the experiential marketing trend to capitalize on a historic Pride month and cater to the types of millennial consumers who enjoy sharing their activities on social media platforms. Smirnoff last week unveiled an extensive campaign that features an “Insta-worthy” House of Pride pop-up hosted by “Queer Eye” star Jonathan Van Nessand a float in the Pride parade stewarded by Alyssa Edwards of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”

Hyatt’s push shows the marketer experimenting with more relevant ways to target its loyalty program at particular customer sets, in this case LGBTQIA+ members. Competitors have deployed similar tactics around typically busy events where accommodations might be sparse and in high demand. Marriot’s W Hotels division last year brought “designer yurts” to the Coachella music festival. The huts, which were auctioned off via the brand’s loyalty points system, were made to look like W Hotel rooms from around the world and included personal concierges and shuttles to concert performances.

For Hyatt, Pride presents a chance to engage an often underserved market. LGBTQIA+ consumers are high-spending, yet industry research frequently indicates brands largely neglect them. A study released last year by Brand Innovators and INTO, the now-shuttered digital lifestyle vertical that was owned by Grindr, revealed that 53% of marketers allocate just 0% to 4% of their annual media budgets for LGBTQIA+ people.