Expedia Group has signed to become Marriott International’s exclusive global distributor of wholesale rates, availability, and content to a network of global travel providers.

Expedia Group and Marriott International have announced that as part of an agreement (signed back in April 2019), Expedia Group will become the exclusive global optimised distributor of Marriott’s wholesale rates, availability, and content to a network of global travel providers, effective 15 October 2019.

With the launch of the optimised distributor model, Marriott is introducing changes to how it approaches the redistribution of the company’s wholesale rates and availability among third-party travel providers.

Through this agreement, Marriott will leverage Expedia Group’s technology and enterprise-level service to create a single gateway for the redistribution of Marriott’s wholesale inventory.

“Solving distribution challenges and improving profitability”

“At Marriott, our highest priorities include enhancing service and transparency for consumers while driving profitability for owners and franchisees,” said Brian King, global officer of digital, distribution, revenue strategy & global sales, Marriott International. “With this truly innovative solution from Expedia Group, we can increase our reach to leisure travel providers while solving distribution challenges and improving profitability for our hotels around the world.”

The optimised distribution model, provided by Expedia Group’s B2B arm, Expedia Partner Solutions, will eliminate the complexity and inefficiency of today’s wholesale redistribution model for Marriott hotels. This single gateway solution will also provide a consistent and reliable shopping experience for travellers, ensuring accurate display of hotel descriptions, room rates and fees through known and trusted third party travel providers.