On the International Day of Friendship, Danubius Hotels took stock of its Friends loyalty programme after one year. The findings shed light not only on the programme’s results but also on guests’ changing expectations.
Hotels’ own loyalty programmes are playing an increasingly important role in the hotel industry. As travellers compare offers on online booking sites more easily than ever before, building long-term relationships with returning guests has become a strategic question for hotels. A year ago, Danubius Hotels relaunched its loyalty programme on a new footing. The experience of the first year of Danubius Friends clearly shows what guests expect from a modern loyalty programme today: easily accessible benefits, personalised offers and immediate value instead of traditional points collection.
The change is visible in day-to-day operations too
Instead of the previous points-based mechanism, the Danubius Friends programme is built on instant discounts, personalised offers and gradually expanding benefits. The switch was based on international trends and the company’s own guest research: experience shows that guests value benefits they can use immediately more than rewards collected over a longer period.
The programme’s reception is confirmed not only by the number of registrations but also by day-to-day operations. According to Danubius’s reservations team, more and more telephone enquiries now begin with the guest mentioning their Friends membership. Guests are also increasingly asking specifically about the benefits linked to the different membership tiers and planning their bookings with these in mind.
More than 40,000 members in one year
In the first year of Danubius Friends, nearly 41,000 guests joined the programme, and by 30 June 2026 they had already spent more than 40,000 nights in the chain’s hotels. The most popular destinations were Bükfürdő and the two hotels in Balatonfüred. During the period under review, nearly one in five Friends members chose Danubius Hotels again within a year, clearly showing the programme’s role in strengthening the base of returning guests.
More than a discount programme
“One of the most important lessons of the first year for us was that guests value immediate, easy-to-understand benefits that are noticeable from the very first booking. For Danubius Hotels, the Friends programme is not only about encouraging guests to return, but also about offering them an increasingly relevant and personal experience.” said Zoltan Gergely Nagy, Online Marketing Director of Danubius Hotels.
The second year is about fine-tuning
The first year of Danubius Friends was not a finished project but the start of a continuous learning process. In the second year, the focus will be on incorporating feedback from guests and staff, and on even more personalised, members-only offers. In Danubius Hotels’ experience, guest loyalty today is no longer primarily about collecting points but about a continuously nurtured relationship – and the next developments of the Friends programme are designed to strengthen this. More information>>