Scoring with restaurateurs: Miles & More and HOSPITALITY.digital launch pilot project in Berlin

The restaurateurs thereby gain exclusive and direct access to the participants of the Miles & More frequent flyer scheme. This was enabled by the cooperation between HOSPITALITY.digital, METRO's digital unit, and Europe's leading frequent flyer and awards programme Miles & More. This joint pilot will in a first step run for 6 months. After a successful test phase, the offering is to be extended to other cities in Germany.

"We support our customers not only with digital solutions for the hospitality sector, but also offer them opportunities to grow further with partnerships like this one," says Ole Grunert, Sales Director at HOSPITALITY.digital. "Many restaurant owners do not have own online channels. From now on, they can use access to the Miles & More media to address the strongly online-oriented target group of Miles & More memberss and thus attract attention."

Collecting miles while visiting a restaurant is easy: with the Shop Finder, all participating restaurants can be found on the Miles & More website starting from now on. In addition, vial the Local Specials offer in the Miles & More app, participants in Berlin will receive all information about the restaurants where they can collect premium miles. The restaurants' offering ranges from Mediterranean specialties to German cuisine all the way to Asian delights. When paying, the participating members simply show their Miles & More service card and collect one premium mile for every euro spent.

"We want to continuously offer our participants new incentives to collect milestones. With this pilot project, we are integrating another important area of daily life into our programme: enjoying life together with friends and family," says Benjamin Pfeifer, Associate Director Acquisition at Miles & More. "However, this new offer addresses not only the citizens of Berlin but also business travellers who can easily and quickly get suggestions for a restaurant visit with the Miles & More app - and who are on top also rewarded with award miles."

"This pilot offers a competitive advantage for me. After all, Miles & More members go out to eat in Berlin every day - whether for business or for private reasons. And now their attention is drawn towards me," says Tobias Gietz, owner of Ilsebill, a restaurant in the heart of Berlin's hip district Prenzlauer Berg. "In the process, my restaurant is appearing in completely new channels such as apps or newsletters where I have not been present at all so far."

The joint pilot project of Miles & More and HOSPITALITY.digital will initially run for 6 months. After the successful test phase, the offering is to be extended to other cities across Germany. More information about the participating restaurants can be found at www.miles-and-more-shopfinder.com.

METRO is a leading international specialist in wholesale and food retail. The company operates in 35 countries and employs more than 150,000 people worldwide. In financial year 2016/17, METRO generated sales of around €37 billion. The company provides custom solutions to meet the regional and international needs of its wholesale and retail customers. With its sales brands METRO/MAKRO Cash & Carry and Real as well as delivery services and digitalisation initiatives METRO sets the standards for tomorrow: for customer focus, digital solutions and sustainable business models.

HOSPITALITY.digital was established in 2015 and actively contributes to the digitalisation of the hospitality sector. An international team of experts implements a variety of digital solutions and innovations for hotels, restaurants, caterers and trader businesses. To this effect, the company relies on self-developed solutions as well as on solutions from start-ups promoted in the framework of the METRO Accelerator programmes, and on solutions from other partners. These digital solutions reach small and medium-sized restaurants, hotel and catering businesses through the sales channels of the METRO/MAKRO countries. In addition, the company invests into start-ups from the fields of hospitality tech, retail tech, food tech and food innovation and monitors the trends in the hospitality industry. HOSPITALITY.digital is a wholly owned subsidiary of METRO. More information is available at hd.digital.

Miles & More is Europe's leading frequent flyer and awards programme. 25 years of experience and cooperations with 300 partners across the globe make Miles & More GmbH, the operator of the programme, an expert in approaching individual customers and ensuring their loyalty. Members have the opportunity to earn and redeem Miles & More award miles when flying and with high-quality brands anchored in many important areas of life. With flight awards as its linchpin, the Lufthansa WorldShop and numerous hotel and rental car partners, Miles & More is strongly positioned along the entire travel chain. The Miles & More credit card also enables members to easily earn award miles in everyday life. Miles & More GmbH was founded in 2014 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Lufthansa AG in Frankfurt. More information at www.miles-and-more.com and www.miles-and-more.com/press.