Marriott e-commerce prepares for China debut
Marriott.com is the only hotel site to rank in the world’s top 10 e-commerce revenue-producing websites. The site encompasses eight language/culture-specific versions in different countries. The Chinese site will be launched officially next April – and booking will require a credit card, although China, as a market, is not credit-card friendly.

Marriott’s Director of International eCommerce, Luis Babicek, revealed on a recent trip to Australia that Marriott generally takes a pragmatic view and is more than happy to work under local conditions and with local online accommodation providers.

“We have a relationship globally with Expedia corporate and our inventory is always there, if it’s available. But we are also happy to work with regional players, like Wotif in Australia. We will play with them but there has to be pricing integrity, because the reputation of our company is on the line. So we make a commitment to our guests: no matter how you book with us, we will offer the same price.