Airbnb and Marriott Nearly Signed a Deep Partnership Agreement Around 2015
Skift Take
Dennis' Online Travel Briefing
Editor’s Note: Every Wednesday, Executive Editor and online travel rockstar Dennis Schaal will bring readers exclusive reporting and insight into the business of online travel and digital booking, and how this sector has an impact across the travel industry.During an era six or seven years ago when the big hotel chain-backed American Hotel & Lodging Association was bashing Airbnb for listings that were "illegitimate" and "often illegal," Marriott International and Airbnb drew up the paperwork for a major partnership, according to Airbnb's former Head of Global Hospitality and Strategy Chip Conley.
That potential Marriott-Airbnb partnership, along with Airbnb considering acquiring Sonder, and information about HomeAway making a bid alongside Airbnb's to acquire Luxury Retreats, were among the newsy items that can be found within Skift's Definitive Oral History of Short-Term Rentals Part II.
Airbnb-Marriott DealStarting in 2014, Conley separately hosted at Airbnb headquarters or met elsewhere with the leaders of Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, Starwood, InterContinental, Best Western and Accor in get to know you sessions.
"But it was Marriott that we went into very deep conversations with and came that close," Conley said
