LAS VEGAS -- The stalemate between ASTA and Marriott over its Hotel
Excellence program showed little signs of breaking, as the hotel
chain maintained the program was not a commission cut despite the
Society's criticism to the contrary.
ASTA contends the program is a commission cut because it
requires travel agents to complete and educational program before
they are eligible to earn 10% commission. Some 41,000 travel agents
have graduated from the program.
ASTA had been in talks with to resolve its differences with
Marriott over the program, but the Society said it broke them off
because the hotel chain would not provide certain information about
how it was reinvesting the commission savings into agent education
initiatives.
Bruce Wolff, Marriott's senior vice president, distribution
sales and marketing, said that so long as ASTA views the program as
a commission cut, the two side would remain at an impasse.
"There is no sense talking about how we are reinvesting the
money," Wolff said. "They are speaking out of both sides [of their
mouth] that this is a cut and you are not reinvesting the money
well."
However, Wolff said, if ASTA were to modify their position to at
least recognize the program has some value, there could be a reason
to continue a dialog. "They would really have the position to say
you should invest here or there," Wolff said.
Nevertheless, there were indications that ASTA might be easing
its hard-line on Marriott.
ASTA treasurer Eric Ardolino commented to the audience attending
a Marriott breakfast at the ASTA World Travel Congress that the
Society was appreciative of Marriott support of agents.
Three members of ASTA board did not attend the breakfast, citing
previous engagements. At a similar event at the last ASTA congress
in Strasbourg, ASTA officials walked out of the breakfast in
protest of the Hotel Excellence program.
Meanwhile, Wolff said Marriott is working to get all of its
hotels to load their inventory on the computer reservations
systems. "Some hotels do not have a good single inventory program
and [they] are allowed to withhold inventory, agents are at risk,"
Wolff said. Wolff said some Marriott hotels appear sold on the CRS
but withhold some inventory for walk in clients.
"Then the customer calls the hotel and finds 'sure it is wide
open," said Wolff. "That attacks the value proposition of the
agency community. The most hostile thing that [a hotel chain] can
do to travel agents is not take the time to make sure that [its
properties] link to their inventories."
Wolff also said Marriott is preparing to share some proprietary
guest profile data with Hotel Excellence graduates.
Additionally, Marriott announced that the 50,000th graduate from
the program would win a trip for two to the 2002 Winter Olympics in
Salt Lake City. A second trip will be award to previous graduates
of the program in a separate drawing.