Vacation.com® Selects Marriott International® As First Preferred Hotel Partner For Agency Network
Provides Members with Great Rates, Breadth of Brands, Incentives at Nearly 2,800 Properties Worldwide
ALEXANDRIA, VA | Vacation.com® – North America’s leading travel services marketing organization – is adding Marriott International® to its preferred supplier lineup, granting members access to benefits and incentives at 11 of the world’s top hotel brands, with nearly 2,800 properties worldwide. Vacation.com will partner with the hotel company to create marketing initiatives and incentives for the member agencies.
Leading Marriott International hotel brands participating in the program include Marriott Hotels & Resorts, JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Renaissance Hotels & Resorts, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Courtyard By Marriott, Springhill Suites, Fairfield Inn & Suites, Residence Inn, Towneplace Suites, Marriott Executive Apartments and Marriott Vacation Club International.
“The right partnerships are the keys to success in this industry, and the Vacation.com/Marriott alliance is a natural,” said Steve Tracas, president & CEO, Vacation.com.
“We selected Marriott as our first preferred hotel partner because Vacation.com and Marriott International have much in common,” added Tracas. “We are both the largest organization in our respective fields, we have common cultures, we both firmly believe that proactive, savvy travel agents can have a strong influence on their clients’ hospitality choices, and we are committed to ensuring a strong and profitable travel agency distribution system by providing the tools and resources that help professional sellers of travel succeed.”
“Marriott is pleased to have been selected as Vacation.com’s first hotel partner. The quality of their travel agency support programs give us the confidence that our two organizations will compliment each other and will provide resources to their travel agency membership that ensures profitable business building opportunities,” said Fred Miller, vice president Global Sales, Marriott International.
The new preferred hotel partner alliance with Marriott International will take effect for travel beginning Jan. 1, 2007 and include the following benefits for Vacation.com members:
- Custom marketing products and packages
- Enhanced business building training opportunities
- Marketshare incentives
Vacation.com is a travel services marketing organization currently serving a network of more than 5,700 travel agency locations across the U.S. and Canada. Its membership network is focused on leisure travel distribution, accounting for nearly 30 percent of all travel agencies in North America. With more than $15 billion in annual sales, Vacation.com – "Powered By Real Travel Agents" – is North America’s largest vacation selling network.
MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL, INC. (NYSE: MAR) is a leading lodging company with more than 2,800 lodging properties in the United States and 67 other countries and territories. Marriott International operates and franchises hotels under the Marriott, JW Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Residence Inn, Courtyard, TownePlace Suites, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites and Bulgari brand names; develops and operates vacation ownership resorts under the Marriott Vacation Club International, Horizons, The Ritz-Carlton Club and Grand Residences by Marriott brands; operates Marriott Executive Apartments; provides furnished corporate housing through its Marriott ExecuStay division; and operates conference centers and golf courses. The company is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and had approximately 143,000 employees at 2005 year-end. It is ranked as the lodging industry’s most admired company and one of the best places to work for by FORTUNE®. The company is also a 2006 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ENERGY STAR® Partner. In fiscal year 2005, Marriott International reported sales from continuing operations of $11.6 billion. For more information or reservations, please visit our web site at
Catherine Leitner
(301) 380-4220
Marriott
