Contact Sales
Hospitality CRM: Contact Us
Hospitality CRM

What brings guests back?

A look into what’s driving customer loyalty for hospitality venues. 2025 hospitality loyalty report | In collaboration with KAM

Key insights: 

  • 53% say great food & value keep them coming back  
  • 62% say loyalty programs influence where they visit 
  • 73% prefer points-based rewards 

Read the full report to uncover how to build loyalty and boost guest engagement. 

Download the full report

Understanding the drivers of customer loyalty in hospitality 

Customer loyalty is a critical factor for hospitality businesses, but what truly keeps guests coming back? This report, produced by KAM in partnership with Access Hospitality, explores the key motivations behind repeat visits, based on insights from 500 hospitality consumers. 

  • The findings reveal that great food and value for money are the top factors influencing return visits, each cited by 53% of customers. However, value for money extends beyond price—customers prioritise top-quality food and excellent service over simply finding the cheapest option. 
  • Convenience also plays a crucial role in guest retention. Frequent customers travel an average of just 3.95km, compared to 8km for occasional visitors, highlighting the importance of proximity in driving loyalty. 

For hospitality operators, loyalty isn’t just about emotional connection—it’s about increasing visit frequency. Acquiring a new customer can cost 5-10 times more than retaining an existing one, and loyal customers spend 67% more on average, according to BIA Advisory. 

With nearly half of respondents enrolled in a hospitality loyalty program, it’s clear that well-structured rewards still hold strong appeal. This report uncovers the insights that hospitality brands can leverage to encourage repeat visits, enhance guest experience and ultimately, drive long-term success. 

Contents of this report

1. Quality

Jump to Quality

2. Incentives

Jump to Incentives

3. Convenience

Jump to Convenience

4. Driving loyalty with Access Acteol

Jump to Driving loyalty with Access Acteol

Quality

Loyalty factors

Guests prioritise quality and value

Alongside value for money, quality of food served and service rank the highest for guests as factors that are important to them in making them loyal to a particular hospitality venue. 

Quality of food referenced higher for those aged 35+ than the under 35’s, but quality of service referenced higher for under 35’s, indicating that the younger generation see service (and experience) as more important to them than food. 

VFM was also more important to those aged 35+ 

Q: What are the main factors that make you loyal to a specific hospitality venue (i.e. which of these, if done well, would make you return to the same venue again)? Select up to 4 responses 

Non-loyalty factors

Top reasons guests don’t return

Poor quality of food and VFM are the top factors that will make guests think again about returning. This was predominant for the over 55’s where over 62% chose these 2 options. 

A dirty venue (48%), lack of atmosphere (21%), and inconsistent experiences (15%) can also leave a lasting negative impression—making guests less likely to return. 

Q: Conversely, which of the following factors are most likely to make you NOT want to return to the same venue again? Select up to 4 responses. 

Value for money

Quality of food is predominant

The food quality is again the far most important consideration for respondents, not just when considering their loyalty to a venue, but also when they consider if their experience is good value for money. 

This was particularly so for the older age group, where 71% of the over 55’s selected quality of food. 

The under 35’s still rated quality highly, but also ranked having an experience you can’t replicate at home and large food portions as a higher factor for them vs the older age groups. 

Even when filtered by age groups (18-34, 35-54, and 55+), food quality remained the top factor across all demographics, highlighting just how important it is to every guest.

Q: When visited a hospitality venue, what does ‘value for money’ mean to you? Select all that apply 

Incentives

Loyalty schemes

Rewards rule

75% of respondents said that generous rewards would encourage them to join a loyalty scheme in a hospitality venue, and this was even across the age groups. 

Location and ease of sign up ranked highly too, with personalisation ranking highest amongst the under 35’s. 

Younger customers are far more likely to join a loyalty scheme—when filtered by age, less than 1% (0.7%) of 18-34 year olds said that nothing would encourage them to sign up, compared to 5% of 35-54 year olds and 13% of those aged 55+, showing a clear generational divide in engagement with loyalty programs. 

Return visits

What’s driving return visits?

QSRs (Quick Service Restaurants) and Cafes see lots of repeat visits, with nearly half of customers returning 5+ times, showing that convenience and familiarity play a big role. 

Casual dining and bars attract more onetime visitors, likely for special outings or experiences. Premium food venues strike a balance, with a mix of repeat and first-time guests, highlighting that quality and experience keep people coming back, but not necessarily as frequently. 

Membership of schemes 

43% are members of a scheme. Within this, the number was slightly higher for the under 35’s, with 49% of this age group belonging to a hospitality loyalty scheme. 

Q: Are you currently a member of any hospitality venue’s loyalty programs?

Best loyalty program

Ease of use is most important

56% of respondents said ease of use was most important to them – with almost 70% of the under 35’s stating this. 

Money savings and benefits also ranked highly, with this more predominate in the over 35’s. 

Additional perks rated highly for the under 35’s, with 42% selecting this option. 

Q: What makes your favourite scheme the best loyalty program? Select all that apply 

Incentives

01 03

App based schemes

An app is the preference

Only 17% of respondents said they were less likely to use a loyalty programme if it was app based. 

Perhaps not surprisingly, 66% of under 35’s said they would be more likely to use an app. 

Q: Would you be more or less likely to join a loyalty program if it required an app? 

02 03

Loyalty scheme influence 

62% say schemes have a great or some influence 

On their decision on which venues they may visit. This was highest (83%) in the under 35’s age group. 

This indicates the influence of such schemes on the younger generations, who are potentially the long-term guest of the future. 

Q: How much influence do loyalty programs have on which hospitality venues you choose to visit? 

63% said a scheme did NOT influence their recent visit decision 

However, again this was very different for the under 35’s where 57% said it DID influence their decision to visit. 

Q: Has a loyalty scheme influenced you to visit a specific hospitality venue in the last 3 months? 

03 03

Sharing personal info

To receive bespoke and tailored offers 

73% said they would be prepared to share their personal info, and this was broadly similar across all age groups. 

Q: Would you be willing to share more personal information with these types of venues in order to receive bespoke offers and suggestions tailored specifically to you? 

Additional visit influences 

A promo would encourage an extra visit

67% of respondents said they would add an additional visit to a venue if there was a promotion – such as a % off – this was pretty even across the age groups, although slightly higher (72%) for the 35-54’s. 

A free item offer, or extra points on their next visit also scored highly. 

This indicates the value seen by guests in promotional activity as the basis to use a loyalty scheme. 

Q: Which of the following are most likely to influence you to add an additional visit to a venue that you regularly go to? Select all that apply 

Preferred comms

Email remains the strong preference

82% said that they would be very likely or likely to be encouraged to visit if sent a promo/offer via email. 

WhatsApp and push notifications were least preferred, although there’s still an appetite for these as comms tools. 

Q: How likely would you be to be encouraged to visit a hospitality venue if they sent you an offer or promotion via the following methods? 

Subscribing to emails 

Approximately half do subscribe to hospitality venue emails. This was highest (59%) in the under 35’s age group. This suggests that while email is a somewhat effective loyalty channel, it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. Though it reaches a solid portion of customers, its effectiveness in driving loyalty might be stronger when combined with other channels or personalised offers to better engage the remaining customers. 

Q: Do you subscribe to any emails / newsletters from any hospitality venues?

Content preferences 

Promotional offers score highest

Money off / % discount promo offers was the top preference, particularly amongst the over 55’s, where 76% selected this option. 

Whilst personalised content only ranked 4th / 6th this was significantly higher in the younger age group where 48% / 52% like personalised named or preference content. 

The over 55’s have a significantly higher preference for birthday offers (65%) and deal offers (72%) than the other 2 age groups. 

Q: What type of content do you like to receive? Select all that apply. 

Preferred collection method 

A physical card and app were the highest rated

The physical card – perhaps not surprisingly – was highest (53%) for the over 55’s, whereas an app was actually higher (50%) in the mid age category of 35-54 years. 

The digital wallet option was preferred by nearly a third of respondents, with 51% of under 35’s preferring this option (vs only 17% of over 55’s). 

This indicates that knowing your guest is key to the decision around what type of scheme to offer. 

Q: What would be your preferred method of collecting loyalty points / pounds / rewards from a hospitality venue, if available? 

Rewards and benefits 

Points win over promos and discounts

73% of respondents would prefer a points based system similar to Clubcard / Nectar. This was highest (81%) in the 35-54 age category. 

This was by far the most preferred method, although regular discounts still featured strongly, more so for the over 55’s (49%). 

Q: Which of the following benefits/rewards would you prefer to receive from a hospitality venue to get you visit again? Select up to 2. 

Convenience

Driving customer loyalty with Acteol

At Acteol, we help hospitality businesses turn guests into loyal customers. With extensive experience working with leading UK brands, our CRM’s advanced loyalty module provides the tools to design high-impact loyalty programs and deliver personalised, data-driven campaigns that keep customers coming back.

Best practice case studies

With tiered loyalty options, behaviour-based segmentation and automated engagement tools, Acteol’s CRM empowers hospitality brands to increase visit frequency, boost guest spending and maximise long-term loyalty.

Ready to enhance your customer loyalty strategy? Get in touch with Acteol today to see how our CRM can transform your loyalty efforts.

Contact us