Lack of engagement between organisations running travel loyalty programs and consumers is resulting in loss of appeal and unused reward platforms. Research from the Colloquy Loyalty Census 2016, shows that the average U.S. household belongs to nearly 30 loyalty programs yet actively participates in less than half. Although there is a wealth of programs available, 85% of millennials say that reward programs lack relevance and research from Capgemini (2015) highlights that almost 90% of social media sentiment on loyalty programs is negative.

According to a new report from MasterCard, Travel Loyalty: New Program and Consumer Dynamics, what’s needed is the application of smart data. While program managers may have a wealth of data from their own connections with consumers, this provides little meaningful insight. More dimensionality is needed, by combining anonymized data and loyalty information from trusted sources, travel programs benefit from a 360 degree view of spending behaviour and can deliver more targeted, personalised rewards.

Download the full report here and visit http://www.mastercardadvisors.com/.