Travelport's five-year agreement to provide full content for Marriott International's 3,400 properties across the Galileo and Worldspan global distribution systems should allow buyers a more comprehensive look at available hotel rates, officials said.
Through Marriott's participation in Travelport's Corporate Pricing Plus program, announced last week, the hotel chain will give agents access to all normal rates, the rules applied to those rates and a complete list of the amenities are included in that rate and any other charges potentially incurred, said Travelport director of strategic hotel content Keith Harrison.
"They'll know things like whether breakfast or dinner are included or what the cost is going to be," Harrison said. "Agents also can preselect things like the type of bedding and request room views."
Additionally, Marriott is connecting to Travelport through its XML platform, which links rates and availability across all Marriott brands to both Galileo and Worldspan, while providing simpler coding and support. Harrison said Travelport is working to consolidate as many hotel agreements as possible across the two systems into a single agreement as they come up for renewal.
"The duration of this contract is a relatively long-term deal," he said. "Typically, we contract for three to four years, so five years is a big win."