There is an advertising campaign just launched by Marriott International urging consumers to book direct. The star is Grace Helbig. She’s apparently a “YouTube sensation,” and I am sure she is funny since she seems to be a popular comedienne.
In each of the three vignettes that drag on for over a minute, and which may rank as some of worst commercials I’ve ever seen (and I generally like halfway decent commercials), Helbig jumps in after about 50 seconds of awkward conversation and cuts to the chase. She helps the protagonists figure things out, be it directions somewhere, deciding to make a job offer or spurring a stuttering young guy to finally ask his confused girlfriend to marry him. As the payoff, the reality actress gives viewers the marketing message, “It pays to book direct.” In other words, you get the best rates at Marriott.com.
Needless to say there are other places you can get the same “best” rates, namely traditional travel agents as well as online travel agencies, commonly referred to as OTAs. From a CFO perspective, driving direct bookings to Marriott.com instead of having you book through Orbitz and
News of the campaign broke this week during what is the largest gathering of travel agents in the United States, an event held in Las Vegas called Virtuoso Travel Week. The group is a network of independently owned advisors who number just under 10,000 and sell over $14 billion a year in trips, mainly leisure and mostly luxury. So while JW Marriott, Edition Hotels, Autograph Collection, Bvlgari Hotels and The Ritz-Carlton are all part of the seemingly endless and ever growing portfolio of flags, the commercials which were Marriott branded drew mainly yawns, some disdain for the general disregard of independent professional advice, and some surprise as the Bethesda, Maryland hospitality giant is generally considered to be supportive of the trade and many of its associations and affiliations.
As a consumer, you really shouldn’t care if this campaign is good or bad for your travel agent, if you have one. After all, everyone’s favorite radio station is WIIFM, or to spell it out, “What’s In It For Me.”
While Marriott.com seems fully functional, let me give you a what if?
What if you book via the website or an online travel agency, you get to the hotel, and something goes wrong. Let’s say you are not one of Marriott Rewards’ top members who spend 100 plus nights a year. Yet, it’s your long-awaited, hard-earned vacation with family and loved ones. Let’s say you bought in at the best, or lowest rates, and you aren’t a regular customer for the company, and it’s your first time to this hotel. How much clout do you think you will have to get whatever your problem is resolved?
I’ve had two recent stays where I was booked into a hotel as part of a group, a mere six or seven alphanumeric confirmation identifier among a flood of high rollers. So, frustrated by a couple service failures, I ask for a call back from a manager (since none are available), and the person I am speaking with isn’t empowered to help me. As of this writing I am batting no for two.
Coming back to Virtuoso Travel Week, the over 2,000 travel agents here will by the end of today will have completed over 350 four-minute meetings with over 2,000 travel suppliers from around-the-world, in most cases the General Managers, Owners and Directors of the hotels they book. If you simply multiply 2,000 agents to 350 meetings that means over 700,000 face-to-face, human, in person contacts between travel sellers and travel providers.
On Monday morning when I walked down to observe this ballet of table switching, I came with the question, “What the heck can anyone get out of four minutes and retain after 350 meetings in four days?” The answer is simple: A face, a handshake or hug and a business card.
From here the advisors will go back home and help folks like you and me plan our vacations. The good ones, and there are many, are able to tell you which hotels have the kids pool and the adult pool near enough to be not too far away, but far enough away not to hear the noise. They know enough to tell you which hotel the “best rate” Garden View rooms actually have great views and which properties the “Premium View” rooms really look onto the loading dock. It’s the type of candor I don’t think you will find on any website, Marriott or otherwise. Yes Trip Advisor is definitely worth a look. I like it, but 2,352 reviews of The Ritz-Carlton San Juan are quite a bit to sort through. And are the nearly 600 that rate it Terrible, Poor or Average more relevant than the 1,109 that rate it Excellent? Your guess is as valid as mine.
What a good advisor will give you is that they are no more than one phone call away from the General Manager, the all empowered problem solver who rules the roost at every hotel. Chances are they met him or her this week, and if not, they met a senior executive they can reach out to when you get put in a room you are not happy about or room service takes two hours, and you never even get a call back from the Duty Manager. Chances are a good agent will not only get your problem solved, but you will be treated like a King or Queen, as opposed to a no-name nuisance. Of course, that’s not saying hotels don’t often do a good job of resolving problems on their own, on the spot. They just don’t always come through. And that's when you are on your own, left to either 'let it go' or spend the next 45 minutes drafting an email to WeLoveOurCustomers@NameOfHotel.com. And in defense of hoteliers, serving today’s finicky consumer can be quite a challenge. Just sit near a front desk for an hour or so and listen to the sad stories people have about why they should get something free or an upgrade to the Royal Suite. It's perhaps another reason your legitimate complaint doesn't always get the attention it should.
Back to the Marriott kerfuffle. What I found interesting is while several industry associations were stomping their feet and screaming (certainly that may be a smart move simply for theatrical purposes of keeping members restrained) most of the advisors I chatted with today were disappointed with Marriott, but not deterred. There were no threats of boycotts, more a level of confidence that comes from the fact that since
For the traveling public, the best way to make sure your vacation goes off without a hitch, or that if there is a problem, it gets corrected, is to have a good travel advisor a phone call away to make the phone call you need. One thing I will bet on, is if there is a problem, you won't be able to get ahold of Grace Helbig.
