Travel & Hospitality
Travel & Hospitality disclosures reveal a sector recovering from post-pandemic turbulence, though performance remains uneven. Spree Hospitality and The Leela lead with scores in the mid-80s to low-90s, while SalamAir and legacy carriers continue to struggle in the teens.
A sector still finding altitude
The 230 canonical Travel & Hospitality disclosures in the NPS Intelligence database yield a median score of 67.7 and a mean of 64.3. Both figures sit comfortably below the cross-sector corpus median of 74, underscoring persistent friction in an industry where operational complexity and customer expectations frequently collide. The gap is most pronounced in airlines and aviation sub-segments, which drag the aggregate down; hospitality properties and tour operators tend to post stronger results.
Variance within the sector is wide. Top performers clear 90, while a handful of disclosures land in negative territory—a rarity across the broader database but not unusual where cancelled flights, service failures, or brand fatigue dominate customer memory.
NPS evolution
The time series shows a sharp dip in 2022 and 2023, when the sector median fell to 58.0 and 57.0 respectively, likely reflecting post-reopening chaos and supply-chain stress. Recovery began in 2024 and has continued into 2026, with the current-year median at 69.9—still short of the 75.0 recorded in 2020 and 2021, when reduced capacity and pent-up loyalty buoyed scores.
Disclosure volume
Disclosure activity has more than doubled since 2023, with 58 new data points in 2026 year-to-date and 52 in 2025. The uptick reflects both renewed investor scrutiny as travel demand normalizes and a broader embrace of NPS as a operational health metric, particularly among hotel groups and low-cost carriers seeking to differentiate on service.
Company stories
The 68-point plunge
Virgin Australia recorded one of the steepest declines in the database: from a trial-program score of 95 in September 2017—when mobile luggage check-in won unanimous customer approval—to 27 in August 2025. The carrier's trajectory mirrors the broader Australian aviation market's post-restructuring struggles, with price competition and network instability eroding the brand equity built before bankruptcy and sale.
Indian hospitality on top
Spree Hospitality posted a 94 in Q1 FY27, the highest score among recent disclosures and a signal that regional hotel groups expanding via asset-light models can maintain service quality at scale. The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts reported an 86 across multiple disclosures in July 2026, earning second place in global hotel brand rankings. Both operators demonstrate that luxury positioning and localized guest experience can drive advocacy even as broader hospitality medians compress.
Negative NPS remains rare but real
Cracker Barrel landed at –11 in August 2025, driven by declining same-store sales and brand fatigue in the casual dining segment. Ensemble, a membership-services travel consortium, registered –20 in September 2024, reflecting member dissatisfaction with value delivery. Both cases underscore the brittleness of loyalty when value propositions drift.
McDonald's moves the goalposts
McDonald's reported in 2025 that it was moving off Net Promoter Scores to focus on a new metric — "complaints per million" — as its CX success measure. There are no reports yet of how that is working out.
Fresh in 2026
July 2026 brought a cluster of disclosures as earnings season opened and hotel groups shared annual results:
- BermudAir hit 70, one of the highest in the airline segment, with a boutique, premium-service model.
- LATAM Airlines climbed from 19 in 2018 to 61 in July 2026, crediting inflight experience improvements post-Chapter 11 emergence.
- Jet2 disclosed a score around 65, paired with 92% customer satisfaction, positioning the UK leisure carrier among the most liked in its segment.
- Saudia Cargo reported 57 as it added four Boeing 777 freighters, signaling growing customer confidence in cargo reliability.
Older nuggets worth a second look
- Delta Air Lines earned a candidate NPS of 81 in June 2016, a high-water mark pre-dating the carrier's current score of 52 (November 2021).
- Virgin Australia recorded 95 in September 2017 for a mobile luggage trial—entirely positive feedback before the restructuring years.
- Royal Caribbean posted mid-70s scores for Harmony of the Seas in October 2017, illustrating how mega-ship launches can drive short-term advocacy.
- Finnair hit an all-time high of 48 in Q2 2017, emphasizing service development in the Nordic carrier's competitive context.
- ixigo reached a 70 app-store NPS in September 2017, among the fastest-growing travel apps at the time.
- TUI reported 55 in FY2017, reinforcing UK package-holiday market leadership before the collapse of Thomas Cook.