Marriott International plans to launch a programme for small and midsize enterprises (SMEs), the group's SVP of global sales Tammy Routh said last week during a BTN Group webinar on transient lodging trends for 2024.
While Routh did not provide details of or a timeline for Marriott's impending programme, she said the hotel company is eager "to get this launched."
The forthcoming SME programme from Marriott will make the hotel company "very easy to do business with," according to Routh.
For SME companies, "this is probably the best time ever for you," Routh said, because travel suppliers, including hotels, have "woken up to how big this space is and the need to have a programme when it comes to SMEs."
In the meantime, Routh suggested travel managers of small and midsize travel programmes utilise hotels at the local level by working with them directly in negotiating their top-tier markets. Routh also recommended buyers lean into loyalty schemes as a bridge until that SME programme is available.
"I would really ride the Bonvoy [loyalty] programme for all your secondary markets, because if someone is a Bonvoy member, they're going to get a discount," she said. Routh also added that some "worthy competitors have SME programmes you can work with".
Routh's suggestions that SME buyers should go directly to the property level to negotiate or lean on loyalty programmes do not extend to larger customers that have chain-level representation.
For those clients, she said there is "no advantage to going to properties directly," even if they think they get a better rate. According to Routh, the advantages of going through global sales representatives is more valuable because "they will do all the work for you, they're going tell your story."
Routh added that global sales reps are often more experienced with corporate deals than their local counterparts and they guarantee rates will be loaded and audited. "Nobody can touch those rates once they're agreed to and audited, not even a property," she said. "Leverage the experts that are your advocates," she said.
Looking ahead, larger-market buyers and travel managers can expect to see a more hybrid mix of rates from Marriott, Routh said, as the hotel company "loves" the idea of hybrid pricing – a strategy that keys into fixed pricing in a corporate client’s highest-volume markets and shifts to dynamic in lower-volume locales.