Marriott Hotels and Resorts is Marriott International’s premier brand consisting of hotels and resorts based out of Bethesda, Maryland. Looking back to June 30, 2020, there were 582 hotels and resorts with about 2,00,000 rooms under the famous brand. There were 160 hotels with approximately 47,000 rooms planned for development. Marriott is one of the premium brands of hotels and resorts providing world-class services to its visitors. It is widely accepted as one of the best hotel chains in the world with its holistic approach to hotel stays making your experience truly enriching in the true sense of the word. Let’s have a look at ‘Marriott Competitive Advantages’.
Being one of the leaders in its highly competitive field means that Marriott has certain distinct competitive advantages which differentiate it from its competitors. These competitive advantages lead the luxurious brand of hotels to have a unique position in both current and prospective visitors’ minds, making it one of the top leaders in its industry. The advantages are as follows:
Marriott Hotels and Resorts’ Competitive Advantages:
- A vibrant, expanded loyalty program
- Massive Scale
- Luxury Properties benefit the entire organization
- Proprietary booking channels
A vibrant, expanded loyalty program
Marriott completed the amalgamation of three of its loyalty programs: Marriott Rewards, Ritz-Carlton Rewards, and Starwood Preferred Guest into a unified loyalty program boasting 110 million users.
This opens up a world of new opportunities for customers as they have access to all 29 hotel brands of each separate program. This results in customers earning 20% more in points per dollar than they did before the merging of these loyalty programs.Revenue per room should ideally experience an increase. This is because a uniform structure allows customers to have access to all of Marriott’s hotels which gives them greater options to choose from and a variety of price points and this results in higher booking conversion.
Massive Scale
Marriott has a wide range of hotels across the world. In fact, it has the highest inventory of hotels in the world in terms of current hotels and hotels in development. This huge inventory allows customers greater access to its chain of hotels irrespective of their location. Thus, even underserved markets get access to Marriott’s world-class hotel and resort facilities. The company looks to have its influence in every corner of the world. While it is far off from achieving this feat, its work is definitely taking it in this direction.
Luxury properties that benefit the entire organization
Marriott caters to different segments of customers. Some customers can afford to directly book premium hotel rooms under the Marriott umbrella. Others, however, look to accumulate loyalty points by staying in other Marriott hotels so that they can redeem these points to stay in the premium hotels. Thus, these luxury properties provide aspirational values to certain customers and hence encourage them to repeatedly stay at Marriott hotels so that they can eventually stay in one of these luxury hotels. It is a win-win situation for all parties involved.
Proprietary booking channels
Marriott International offers a plethora of options for customers to book their rooms. It encourages rooms to be booked directly from these channels rather than from third-party sites.
In order to achieve this, it often matches the prices offered on these third-party sites through their loyalty programs. Booking directly through Marriott’s booking channels also provides Marriott the opportunity to narrate the user experience for customers themselves and leave a good impression rather than depending on third-party sites. The loyalty programs encourage repeated bookings.
Conclusion
As we have seen, Marriott International has adopted several strategies to create and maintain a competitive advantage in its industry. It has earned its reputation of being one of the best hotel and resort chains in the world. It has also worked tirelessly to ensure that this reputation is maintained and is translated to brand equity that stays not just in the industry but also in the hearts of its customers forever. This customer-centric approach has rightfully led to its meteoric rise to the top.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How can I search for a place to stay?
It is a very simple process! You can search either by destination or by date. You can use additional filters like number of guests, number of bedrooms, etc. In addition to this, you can also save your favorite destination for quick access at a later stage.
2. Are there any other languages supported besides English on Marriott’s sites?
Currently. Marriott International offers only English as its mode of communication. They plan to increase the number of languages as they further increase inventories across the world.
3. How far in advance to check-in should I make my reservation?
For bookings with credit cards, you must make bookings at least two days prior to your check-in. In case of booking with points, you must make bookings at least three days prior to your check-in.
4. What are the modes of payment?
Currently, payments can be made using credit cards and redemption of Marriott points.
