It’s a battle to be the supreme online retailer on all playing fields today. Old conglomerates who thought their billions could survive the internet have become fallen soldier of lost time. The web has changed everything. Now it’s Airbnb vs Marriott International, as the hotel giant’s got a new app for home rentals.
The battle of hotels vs home rentals has been a hot topic for the last 5 years. The hospitality industry has thrown billions lobbying against Airbnb in various US states but could not win the war. There’s no way to stop such projects with the internet giving brands marketing capabilities that extend far beyond any one country’s laws. The corporate machine behind the home rental company Airbnb kept pushing globally until worth enough billions to wage the war that was once seen as David vs Goliath.
“For younger generations booking group travel, it’s not who’s in charge of the hotel? It’s who’s in charge of the Airbnb?” said Michael Bellisario, an analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co. “Homesharing is here to stay. The best thing hotel companies can do is embrace it.”
Can’t Beat Them, Join Them.
Now that hotels have lost millions in their battle efforts and ‘David’ is on steroids and valued at $31-billion-dollars, mindsets have changed. According to USA Today, hotels are instead joining the consumer rush for home rentals. Marriott International, a global hotel giant, has an app that will soon release to compete with Airbnb. Though focused on their hotel establishments, Marriott will now too begin renting homes and even possibly Tree Houses and Tents (see here), just like Airbnb.
The new rental app will be announced n the United States next month, May 2019. It’s already been tested in major European markets such as Paris and London. With trials being quite successful, the Marriott company is eager to try the United States market. According to Directory Bug, it’s likely there will be massive marketing campaigns that focus on SEO and the best local SEO citations, which will show reviews of home rentals across various social media & search outlets.
App Name & Hotel Rewards Points
The Marriott International hotel app will likely be used to share home rentals available. This way consumers can compare all rental options in one source. However, there may be a sudden particular name given to the project in May, separating the home share rentals from hotel locations.
What is known, customers who book home rentals through the Marriott app will gain hotel rewards points from there stay. These points are expected to be good towards future bookings for any of the company’s rental options.
Beyond the app, Marriott Intl is expected to go public with their company stock later in 2019. This move would mean anyone could also own a stake in the home rental and hotels app with a quick investment. Though a business risk when investing, this hotel giant is still a major influencer worldwide in the hospitality industry.
