by Donald Wood
Last updated: 12:30 PM ET, Tue June 23, 2015
PHOTO: Exterior view of the San Juan Marriott Resort. (courtest Marriott Hotels & Resorts)
TripAdvisor's already sizeable hotel inventory is about to get bigger.
The company announced that it would be expanding to include Marriott's global hotel portfolio into its instant booking platform.
According to TripAdvisor, the partnership will result in customers being able to book stays at any of Marriott's more than 4,200 hotels around the world right on the TripAdvisor website starting later this summer.
The partnership is a way for Marriott to showcase its 19 brands to a new market on TripAdvisor.
The hope from both companies is that TripAdvisor's Instant Booking platform-which was first introduced in 2014-will provide Marriott customers an efficient booking experience that will make it easier to enjoy the hotel chains.
Marriott International, Inc. senior vice president Shafiq Khan released a statement about the partnership between the hotel company and the trip-booking website:
"TripAdvisor has created a new distribution model that changes the game in the travel industry by addressing key concerns of hotel suppliers. The result is mutually beneficial to both partners from a strategic and economic standpoint. Marriott's partnership with TripAdvisor will make it easy for consumers to book with our hotels, and allows Marriott to build a direct relationship with these guests even before arrival. The agreement also maintains our ability to control where the rates and inventory for Marriott's hotels are displayed. Our partnership will continue to enable us to offer the best benefits, such as Marriott Rewards and Ritz-Carlton Rewards points to our customers who choose to book directly on our channels, including Marriott.com."
While booking a Marriott-branded hotel through TripAdvisor will be as simple as it is for all the other resorts on the site-simply click on the "Book on TripAdvisor" button-the partnership is unique since all customer service will be handled by Marriott employees.
Customers will be provided with links and phone numbers to contact the hotel's customer service associates directly, unlike most other hotels and resorts on the TripAdvisor website.
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