Expedia to handle Marriott’s wholesale rates

Marriott International has revealed Expedia Group will become the “global optimised distributor” of the hotel group’s wholesale rates.

In an industry first, Marriott will use Expedia as its exclusive distributor of wholesale rates, availability and content, effective 15 October 2019.

This comes as a result of an agreement signed in April between the hospitality behemoths, following months-long negotiations beginning in November last year, which saw Marriott International negotiate a lower commission rate with Expedia Group. The last reported rate was 12 per cent in April, according to CNBC.

Distribution will be made available to a network of global travel providers and will see the hotel group leverage Expedia Group’s technology and “enterprise-level service” to create a single gateway for the redistribution of Marriott’s wholesale inventory.

According to the hospitality company, the distribution model – operated by Expedia Group’s B2B arm, Expedia Partner Solutions – will eliminate the complexity and inefficiency of its current model, while the single gateway solution will also provide a better shopping experience for travellers.

Redistributors will no longer receive access to Marriott rates and inventory directly from the hospitality company, but may contract with Expedia Partner Solutions to obtain access.

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

For Marriott hotels, the new optimised distribution model will reduce the cost, complexity, and consumer issues associated with the current redistribution marketplace, according to the company.