Marriott International recently completed the acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts which is about a $13.6 billion merger.
During the ASTA Global Convention, CEO Arne Sorenson plans on the continues talk with the travel agent community even now that they have merged. He said, "I think our relationships with the travel agent community are excellent - not without bumps every now and then, but excellent," Travel Weekly reports.
Over the years, Starwood Hotels & Resorts has been viewed as agent-friendly by most people. However, Sorenson speculated that it may have resulted from individual experiences they might have encountered.
"At the same time, we want to make sure doing this deal that we're keeping our relationships with our customers that are important, and the relationships we have with travel agents are relationships with customers, so they've got to be tended," the CEO added.
Marriott-Starwood wants a conversational process, "So I think we've got to be engaged in dialogue with the travel agent community and say, 'OK, tell us what it is, those of you who, if you preferred Starwood, why did you prefer Starwood? What are you worried about losing? How do you compare the relationships we have with you?'" according Sorenson. "And go through that in a way which is thorough and participatory and transparent. Hopefully we come up with a place that is good, strong relationships for us across the portfolio," the news site detailed.
As for the loyalty programs of each company, Skift reports that the loyalty program accounts of Marriott and Starwood in which the points can be used interchangeably by its members.
Based on the mechanics of the linking programs, loyalty members will be able to freely transfer points across balances. This swift effort in keeping their members happy is to brace them for the coming changes and to avoid attrition.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
