Expedia and Marriott strike distribution deal

Expedia and Marriott strike distribution deal

OTA to be exclusive distributor of hotel chain’s wholesale rates

Expedia Group and Marriott International have struck new agreement for the online travel agent to be the exclusive distributor of the hotel chain’s wholesale rates.

The agreement on wholesale rates is part of a deal signed in April 2019. Rates, availability and content will be made available to a network of global travel providers from October 15.

Marriott is introducing changes to how it approaches the redistribution of the company’s wholesale rates and availability among third-party travel providers.

The hotel operator said it “will leverage Expedia Group’s industry-leading technology and enterprise-level service to create a single gateway for the redistribution of Marriott’s wholesale inventory”.

It added: “The optimised distribution model, provided by Expedia Group’s B2B arm, Expedia Partner Solutions, will eliminate the complexity and inefficiency of today’s wholesale redistribution model for Marriott hotels.

“This single gateway solution will also provide a consistent and reliable shopping experience for travellers, ensuring accurate display of hotel descriptions, room rates and fees through known and trusted third party travel providers.”

Redistributors will no longer receive access to Marriott rates and inventory directly from Marriott but may contract with Expedia Partner Solutions to obtain access, provided such redistributors comply with Marriott’s distribution standards.

Tour operators who access wholesale rates from Marriott directly continue to have this option, in addition to using Expedia Partner Solutions as distributor for Marriott International wholesale rates.

Marriott hotels said the new approach will reduce the cost, complexity, and consumer issues associated with the current redistribution marketplace.

Brian King, global officer of digital, distribution, revenue strategy and global sales at Marriott International, said:

“At Marriott, our highest priorities include enhancing service and transparency for consumers while driving profitability for owners and franchisees.

“With this truly innovative solution from Expedia Group, we can increase our reach to leisure travel providers while solving distribution challenges and improving profitability for our hotels around the world.”

Christian Gerron, senior vice president enterprise solutions at Expedia Partner Solutions, added: “We believe in unlocking the power of the Expedia Group platform for our partners so that they can benefit from our significant investments in technology, support services and industry expertise. This agreement with Marriott International is a great example of putting this ethos into practice.”