Are There Too Many Hotel Brands? Skift Research Has an Answer

Why It Matters

Oversized brand portfolios dilute differentiation, threatening loyalty value and AI‑driven booking performance, prompting hotels to streamline and clarify their brand strategies.

Key Takeaways

• Hotel brand portfolios have doubled without boosting revenue per available room
• Traveler surveys show brands increasingly perceived as indistinguishable
• Loyalty program growth outpaces room supply, but member engagement thins
• AI-driven search will prioritize clear brand positioning over portfolio size
• Hotel leaders must focus on distinct value, not brand proliferation

Summary

Skift Research tackles the question of whether the hotel industry has become oversaturated with brands, revealing that brand portfolios have roughly doubled in recent years.

The data show no consistent correlation between the number of brands a company owns and property‑level financial performance; in fact, as brand counts rose, overall RevPAR growth slowed. A recent U.S. traveler survey found that roughly 73‑75 % perceive many hotel brands as “somewhat similar,” eroding brand distinctiveness.

Robin notes that while loyalty program membership is expanding faster than room supply, engagement per member appears to be thinning—a concern amplified by AI‑driven discovery tools that favor clear, differentiated offerings. He quips that “loyalty bookings are totally free once you exclude the billions of dollars of M&A to acquire all those different brands.”

The takeaway for hotel executives is to prioritize building brands with specific, meaningful value propositions rather than adding more names to the portfolio. Clear positioning will become critical as AI reshapes how travelers search and book, directly affecting loyalty economics and future growth.

Original Description

Hotel brand portfolios have exploded, but is it actually helping performance?

In this Skift Research promo, Head of Research Seth Borko and Senior Analyst Robin Gilbert-Jones break down findings from our new report, “The New Economics of Hotel Brand Expansion.” They explain why brand portfolios have doubled, yet Skift Research did not find a consistent link between more brands and stronger property-level financial results, and why RevPAR growth has softened over the same period.

They also dig into what travelers are feeling. In a recent U.S. survey, nearly three in four travelers said many hotel brands feel at least somewhat similar, raising real questions about loyalty engagement and what happens when AI search compresses “shelf space” and makes brand clarity matter more than sheer portfolio coverage.

The takeaway: hotel leaders may need fewer brands that mean more, not more brands that mean less.

Learn more in the full report, “The New Economics of Hotel Brand Expansion,” available on Skift Research.