Unlocking Travel Insights and Hospitality Partnerships with American Express

American Express’ deep consumer understanding, customer-centric approach, and strategic partnerships offer valuable opportunities for the hotel industry. From evolving luxury travel trends to the rising influence of younger generations, Amex’s research highlights how hoteliers can enhance loyalty, refine payment strategies, and create tailored experiences that attract high-value travellers. Through its extensive network and premium travel benefits, Amex – an organisational member of HSMAI Europe – also provides partnership opportunities that enable hotels to drive engagement, elevate guest experiences, and maximise revenue, as the company’s Vice President and General Manager, Global Client Group International Merchant Services, Veronique Raynaud, explains.

By Gemma Greenwood

Q: Veronique, can you share a quick overview of your role and responsibilities at American Express?

I am currently the Vice President and General Manager, Global Client Group International Merchant Services, at American Express. In this role, I lead an international team based in Europe and Asia, responsible for the relationship between American Express and our largest global strategic merchant partners in Airlines, Lodging, Car Rental, Luxury Retail and Travel.

 

Q: Tell us about American Express and what makes the company so unique, particularly from a travel services perspective?

While American Express is a globally integrated payments company, throughout our 175-year history, travel services have been an integral part of how we back our customers every day. We are a global travel leader with a legacy of helping travellers and businesses thrive in a continuously evolving world.

The foundation of American Express’ competitive edge is our integrated business model, which allows us to operate as a globally integrated payments company.

We’re a Card issuer and direct merchant acquirer. That means we’re the payment issuer (the bank that provides both business and consumer Cards), the merchant acquirer (we have a direct relationship with businesses that accept American Express), and the network operator (we authorise transactions and transfer funds). This gives us a deep understanding of how our Card Members travel – from where they go, to their mode of transportation, to their favourite dining destinations upon arrival – so we can create exceptional experiences tailored to their needs and equip merchants to capitalise on traveller demand.

We have approximately 146 million Cards in force globally and 108 million merchant locations on our global network in more than 200 countries and territories. We continue to drive acceptance of our Cards at millions of new places where our Card Members live, do business, and travel to most. It’s a highly attractive Card Member base, too: with a 2024 Nilson report revealing average annual spend of American Express Card Members is 2.9 times more than non-Card Members in the U.S.

 

Q: Beyond payments, how does American Express create value for its Card Members?

We are not just in the Card business – we’re in the business of membership. We continue to enhance the unique value of Amex membership with exclusive lifestyle experiences, top-tier sponsorships and access to events that appeal to our Card Members’ passions around the world. This means tables at the best restaurants booked through Resy, early access to tickets to events, and access to the Centurion Lounge Network and thousands of lounges worldwide through our Global Lounge Collection. The experiences we create reflect our customer-first philosophy and innovation mindset, and we continuously evolve these experiences to meet the changing needs of our Card Members.

This value is also reflected in the way we back accepting businesses with solutions to help them run, grow and protect their business. These essential tools and resources include curated discounts on business solutions, marketing exposure to our Card Member base, insights, automated digital tools, security solutions and more. This helps enable our business owners to better cater to new and existing customers, personalise offers, and make more informed decisions.

 

Q: How does American Express leverage its payments expertise to support travel businesses and meet evolving consumer expectations?”

Because we are a globally integrated payments company, we are able to paint a more holistic picture of why, what, where and when our customers are spending on travel.

American Express is a resource for travel businesses looking for insights into a range of  consumers, including younger consumers coming into more and more purchasing power, and how they spend. This helps our merchants’ businesses stay ahead of the curve and meet consumers’ expectations for experiential travel.

Through everything we do, our goal is for Card Members and business owners to walk away thinking, “that would not have been the same without American Express.” And others see it and think, “I want to be with American Express”.

 

Q: What general luxury travel trends is American Express witnessing?

Luxury travel continues to grow and evolve with a focus on experiences. According to the American Express Travel 2025 Global Travel Trends report, travellers, especially Millennial and Gen Z travellers, are motivated to book thoughtful, meaningful trips this year. Nearly two-thirds (60%) of global respondents in this survey plan to book a trip around entertainment events or plan on taking at least one trip for a sporting event in 2025, reinforcing that traveling for experiences continues to be a driving force. 70% of Millennials and Gen Z surveyed like to plan trips that focus on enjoying the journey as much as the destination (e.g. Luxury Rail, Cruise, etc.).

 

Q: What are the motivations and reasons for travel?

Today’s traveller is looking for more than just a scenic view: they’re booking thoughtful, meaningful trips.

In terms of Business and Leisure, we have observed that business travellers are making the most of their trips by tacking on personal travel. We’re also seeing business travellers paying for hotel upgrades for a work trip out of their own pocket or with personal points.

 

Q:  How are younger generations influencing the travel landscape – and how can hospitality brands pivot?

Millennials and Gen Z like to plan trips to enjoy the journey as much as the destination, including luxury rail and cruise experiences. Travellers, particularly Millennials and Gen Z, are redefining souvenirs and ways to remember their destinations long after they’ve returned.

According to our trends report, 82% of Millennials and Gen Z surveyed in look for one-of-a-kind goods that will remind them of their trip, so they have a story to share with friends and family (compared to 68% of Gen X and Baby Boomers) and 57% of Millennials and Gen Z surveyed intentionally travel to a destination to find high-quality items that are handmade/authentic to the destination they are visiting.

Family adventures are also increasingly popular – from Millennial and Gen Z parents who let their kids take the lead on planning to bringing extended family along.

To attract these travellers, hospitality brands should think about their overall offer ensuring that their service offering resonates across generations.

 

Q: How is American Express adapting to meet the expectations of Gen Z and Millennials?

We’ve been executing a deliberate strategy to attract and drive relevance with Millennials and Gen Zs over the last several years. Our premium products and value propositions are resonating well with younger customers, with Millennial and Gen Z consumers representing more than 60% of new consumer account acquisitions globally.

 

Q: And how are spending habits changing in luxury travel?

We are seeing two key trends: the use of credits cards and loyalty programmes, and use of technology to facilitate trip planning and booking.

Travellers are becoming savvier by stacking reward points and using benefits across credit cards and travel programmes to maximise their trips. Our report found that two-thirds (66%) of global respondents say that combining credit card rewards with other loyalty perks provides “the best value for international trips.” Many travellers (58% of global respondents) are likely to stack travel benefits from multiple loyalty programmes to get upgrades they wouldn’t have splurged on otherwise.

Travellers are also making the most of travel-friendly tech throughout the planning and booking process to provide a smooth journey from start to finish — from making reservations in advance to overcoming language barriers while traveling, and this happens across all generations. The younger generations are leading the embrace of Gen AI capabilities with 83% of Millennials and Gen Z surveyed found at least one aspect of this new technology to be useful for booking. It’s worth noting that 64% of Gen X and Baby Boomers also find those new technologies and apps helpful.

 

Q: What is American Express doing to improve loyalty? Where does your travel proposition fit into this?

American Express drives loyalty through premium travel benefits, curated experiences, and strong customer service. Our travel value proposition varies by product. Examples of offerings include:

• Access to thousands of airport lounges worldwide.
• Enhanced lodging benefits such as early check-in, checkout, via the Hotel Collection and Fine Hotels + Resorts programmes when booking through American Travel Services.
• Ability to earn Membership Rewards points with every spend that can be redeemed with partners across the travel industry and more.
• We partner with merchants to bring our Card Members a range of fantastic Amex Offers from leading brands across retail, dining, travel and more.

 

Q: How are you leveraging partnerships with travel and hospitality brands to better serve current and new American Express customers?

We collaborate with some of the best partners across the industry to offer exclusive benefits and access.  When booking through Fine Hotels + Resorts, eligible Card Members can receive perks including upgrades and early check in when available, guaranteed 4pm late check out, complimentary breakfast for two and a $100 credit to spend on property. These partnerships enhance our Card Members’ journeys, providing value and convenience.