The luxury hotel group updated its preferred partnership model after recognising the previous setup had become “a bit dated” – and is already seeing the payoff. 

“In a little less than a year, we’ve seen a tremendous increase in the volume of bookings through Fan Club,” Kristin Ruble, Chief Commercial Officer at Mandarin Oriental, told TTG. “It’s been an amazing growth.” 

Mandarin Oriental first launched Fan Club in 2011, as part of a strategy to formalise its relationships with the trade – which represents roughly 35% of its bookings. The invite-only programme offers multiple benefits, including hotel credits, complimentary breakfast, priority room upgrades and flexible check-in and check-out times. 

Recently, it has launched a number of features aimed at improving user experience and cementing agent loyalty. 

“I think the programme had become a bit dated and wasn’t really taking advantage of technology today,” Ruble admitted. 

The operator has now enhanced its Fan Club website to enable advisors to track their own performance – a function that hadn’t existed before. Booking management and access to key information have also been improved. 

Ruble believes the addition of a leadership board, which allows agents to view the brand’s top sellers, will be another game-changer. 

“A little competition never hurt anything,” she said. “It’s driven to recognise those that are performing and for them to see how they are faring against other travel advisors.” 

Ruble emphasised, however, that this league table does not show every single booking: “It’s just for those at the top.” 

“We’ve developed achievement levels and badges,” she added. “It’s designed to celebrate and reward success and loyalty so we can build more direct relationships with those travel advisors. It’s really exciting.”

Mandarin Oriental Fan Club privileges are also under review as the brand moves to align more closely with members’ preferences. 

“I think the programme benefits were slightly not at market,” Ruble said. “So we looked at how to improve that directly, but we don’t know what those rewards will be just yet.”