Without Reservations — Marriott’s fling with Alibaba

In between trying to figure out how best to use your SPG reward points in the merged Marriott-Starwood chain and fighting with the front desk for overcharging you for Internet access, the next time you stay at a Marriott property, chances are that you will see a lot of Chinese guests.

Arne Sorenson, the first non-family CEO of the 90-year-old Marriott franchise, who took over from the legendary Bill Marriott Jr. 5 years ago announced a deal with the Chinese e-com behemoth Alibaba this Monday.

Speaking to Wall St. from Shanghai, Mr. Sorenson talked eloquently of how this tie-up will ensure more bookings from the increasingly outbound Chinese tourists, especially during the Golden Week holiday season. Marriott/Alibaba JV is bolstered by Chinese premier Xi Jinping’s forecast that 700 million Chinese tourists will make overseas trips in the next five years!

Alibaba’s travel portal Fliggy will have a dedicated storefront for Marriott’s 30 plus brands and will be integrated with their mobile payment wallet Alipay, which is fast gaining worldwide acceptance as a potential credit-card killer.

For Arne Sorenson and his team, this is another major initiative after the mega $13 billion acquisition of Starwood hotel chains which closed last September.

The only dampener to these plans would be a mega geopolitical face-off!

This was originally written for AlphaNews Newsletter on August 09, 2017. Subscribe to our newsletter to get timely alerts