Expedia and Priceline Can Expect Tougher Negotiations With Marriott the Next Time They Meet
Photo Credit: A guest room at the Renaissance Paris Republique. Parent company Marriott International is embarking on a massive integration process following the close of its Starwood purchase, and seeking the benefits of increased scale. Marriott International
Skift Take
Sometimes, being bigger really can be better. Or at least that's what Marriott is telling itself.
If Expedia and Priceline thought Marriott was tough the last time they met to negotiate rates, just wait until the next time they meet.
This was mentioned by Laura Paugh, Marriott International's senior vice president of investor relations, on Dec. 6 at the Barclays Eat, Sleep Play – It's Not All Discretionary conference in New York.
"One of the things we've discovered after the closing of the transaction was that the Marriott contracts for the OTAs [online travel agencies] were better than the Starwood contracts," she said. "When you think about it, we negotiated those contracts from a strength of 4,000 hotels and Starwood negotiated their contracts with the strength of a thousand hotels, and the difference was our contracts are already better and we haven't even renegotiated yet with the 6,000."
Paugh was describing some of the biggest benefits of Marriott's massive $13.3-billion acquisition of Starwood Hotels and Resorts, which closed on Sept. 23, nearly a year after the
