Marriott delves deeper into the web

Singapore - Marriott International's global online platform Marriott.com aims to become more customisable for consumers before the end of 2009, according its director of international e-commerce Luis Babicek.

Babicek also revealed the hotel giant was considering adding community elements to its site, and was currently testing the online trend with its Marriott Rewards club members. No launch date for this was disclosed. Babicek spoke to Marketing prior to Marriott.com receiving an award for the best online presence (under Category 4 - Online & Technology) handed out by TravelWeekly, last Thursday night in Singapore.

According to Babicek, around 40% of the organisation's reservations come through electronic forms while online booking numbers performed particularly well for them in markets such as China and Japan. "We don't have a policy where we prefer one channel over another but the trend today is self-service, and the web," he says.

The Marriott.com launched in 1996 and last year pulled in US$5.2 billion in revenues in gross sales. "It's the largest single face the Marriott has out there in the world, and a tool to talk about the company but also about the travel experience. We don't sell advertising space - it's a booking channel, a brand channel and a loyalty channel," Babicek says.