We should state at the outset that one of our four cheers this week is a Bronx cheer, and we're aiming it at Marriott for a disappointing lapse in its trade relationships.
We refer to the company's decision to offer free WiFi to Marriott Rewards members beginning Jan. 15, provided they book through Marriott channels (Marriott's website, mobile app, call center or hotel). That makes Marriott the latest company to join the small list of suppliers that go out of their way to penalize travelers for using travel agents.
Marriott has earned a pretty good reputation over the years for working with agents in a reasonable manner -- not warm and huggy, necessarily, but businesslike and fair.
This move represents a few giant steps backward, and it doesn't seem to make a lot of business sense.
Marriott isn't struggling. For the year to date, the company has reported net income of $556 million on revenue of $10.2 billion, while spending over $1 billion buying back its own stock. Its 9% increase in top-line revenue has been fueled by a global occupancy rate of 76.9%, solidly above the industry average, and a RevPAR gain of 8.1%.
In other words, Marriott is doing better than the overall economy, i.e., better than its customers.
Marriott's bean-counters must figure that if the company gives away some free WiFi to loyalty plan members who book direct, it will save enough on distribution costs to come out ahead. But ahead by how much? It's hard to imagine that this two-bit gimmick is really going to move the needle for Marriott's bottom line.
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We have more to cheer about from President Obama's recent visit to China, which served as the backdrop for the announcement that the two countries have signed a bilateral agreement to extend the validity period for tourist and business visas to 10 years, and student visas to five years. The change took effect on Nov. 12.
This is a good move for the travel business and a smart move for the government, which is once again showing that it understands the economic importance of reducing friction in the travel process, whether it be red tape and delays in issuing visas, inflexible security procedures or long customs lines for arriving passengers. China's market for outbound international travel is the fastest-growing market in the world and will be the top source of overseas visitors to the U.S. within a decade.
We're happy to see that Uncle Sam gets it.
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And speaking of Uncle Sam, the Transportation Security Administration continued on the path of enlightenment on Veterans Day last week when it extended Pre-Check expedited screening to cadets and midshipmen at the four U.S. service academies.
This was a logical and welcome move following the decision last year to extend Pre-Check benefits to all armed forces personnel. If our servicemen and women and our future military officers aren't "low-risk," we don't know who is.
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Finally, a cheer for BART, the San Francisco Bay area's rail transit system, for finally closing the loop to the Oakland Airport. Shuttle buses between OAK and BART's Coliseum station are slated to be replaced Nov. 22 by sleek new automated people-movers on an elevated guideway, making the three-mile run in about eight minutes. In the grand scheme of things, a small step -- but still worth a cheer.