A Hotel Chain Found 485,000 People Willing to Pay for Loyalty

Most hotel loyalty programs are free. Accor’s is a paid subscription, and it is attracting a crowd: ALL Accor Plus Explorer now has more than 485,000 members, who booked over 3.8 million room nights in the past year, mostly in Australia, followed by Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore.

Membership costs roughly $250 a year across markets, listed at SGD 329 in Singapore, AUD 369 in Australia, INR 23,199 in India and JPY 39,800 in Japan. About 95 percent of members are in Asia Pacific, and many join through bank partners such as American Express, DBS, Axis, Woori and CIMB.

Accor Plus CEO Emilie Couton says the company judges the scheme on frequency, usage and revenue rather than headcount, arguing a million members would not justify it if they spent no more than today’s. Accor says Explorer members stayed five times as many nights as non-members in 2024. The program was rebranded on October 1, 2025, and Couton says churn has fallen and renewals have improved, though meaningful renewal data is only now emerging.

Growth markets include Mainland China, up 41 percent year over year, and South Korea, up 20 percent. India is the second-largest market with more than 100,000 members. China is the big prize still ahead: Accor plans a WeChat mini-program within a couple of months and a dedicated sales push later in 2027.

Sources: Skift