Global Hotel Alliance (GHA), the worlds largest alliance of independent hotel brands, and operator of the award-winning, multi-brand loyalty programme, DISCOVERY, has received substantial investments from two new shareholders that will enable it to accelerate its strategic growth plans.

The two new shareholders are Minor Hotels, the Bangkok-based operator of more

than160 hotels under a global family of brands including Anantara, AVANI, Elewana, Tivoli and

Oaks, and Pan Pacific Hotels Group, based in Singapore, which operates 32 hotels across Asia, Australasia and North America under the Pan Pacific and PARKROYAL brands. 

"We are delighted that Minor and Pan Pacific, both long-standing members of the alliance, have chosen to become shareholders alongside our founding joint venture partners, Omni Hotels and Resorts, Kempinski Hotels and Oracle Corporation," commented Chris Hartley, CEO of GHA.

"As we look forward to celebrating our 15th anniversary in 2019, we are making substantial investments in CRM and shared technology to build on the success of the DISCOVERY loyalty programme. The 13 million DISCOVERY members will produce US$ 1.7 billion in room revenues in

2018, of which around US$ 125 million is from customers moving between our member brands. We plan to double those numbers in the next few years, as independent brands look to collaborate with each other to share the common challenge of competing with the ever-consolidating major brands and third-party distribution providers."

As the GHA will enter its 15th year in 2019, Minor Hotels took the opportunity to support the alliance which is currently investing in new CRM and shared technology to build on the success of the DISCOVERY loyalty program.

"Minor has been involved with GHA since 2007 with our Anantara brand. Since then we have grown and developed our own brands and continue to acquire new ones, and membership of GHA fits well with our multi-brand strategy," said Dillip Rajakarier, CEO of Minor Hotels.

GHA has consistently demonstrated the value of global customer reach and a strong CRM and loyalty programme for our hotels, and so we are delighted to be able to take our place as a shareholder in the business, with the opportunity to help guide its growth over the coming years."

Both Minor CEO Dillip Rajakarier and Pan Pacific CEO Lothar Nessmann will sit on the board of 

GHA.

"Pan Pacific was a founder member of GHA in 2004, and we have seen first-hand how the alliance can drive large volumes of corporate and leisure business into hotels across our Pan Pacific and PARKROYAL brands, whether that is a city-centre hotel in Singapore or a ski resort in Canada," added Lothar Nessmann, CEO of Pan Pacific.

"With the DISCOVERY programme delivering several points in incremental occupancy into our hotels each year from around the alliance network, it is easy to be a supporter of the platform, and were looking forward to contributing to its future success as shareholders."

GHA was advised on this transaction by PwC Corporate Finance and Addleshaw Goddard as legal advisors. 

Global Hotel Alliance (GHA) is the worlds largest alliance of independent hotel brands, bringing together 33 brands with over 550 hotels in 77 countries. GHA uses a shared technology platform to drive incremental revenues and create cost savings for its member brands. GHAs award-winning loyalty programme, DISCOVERY, provides 13 million members exclusive opportunities to immerse themselves in local culture wherever they travel. GHAs hotel brands currently include: Alila, Anantara, Atura, AVANI, Corinthia, Discovery Destinations, Doyle, Elewana, GLO, Grace, JA Resorts, Kempinski, Leela, Lungarno, Marco Polo, Meritage, Meydan, Mysk, Niccolo, NUO, Oaks, Omni, Outrigger, Pan Pacific, PARKROYAL, QT, The Residence by Cenizaro, Rydges, Shaza, Thon, Tivoli, Ultratravel Collection and Viceroy.