Plenty of attention on Marriott this week as it introduces a new loyalty package - but other efforts to coincide with the launch illustrate a maturing of another sector.
The new program sees the group consolidate benefits for guests across Marriott Rewards, Ritz-Carlton Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest from August 2018.
The hotel end of the unified approach will allow guests to book stays and earn or redeem points across 29 brands (6,500 properties in 127 countries).
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But, in addition, Marriott is ramping up the opportunity to provide guest "experiences" by expanding Moments, an existing platform to sell tours and activities to customers.
Magic moments
The Moments platform claims to now have 110,000 products on sale for guests, available in 1,000 destinations around the world.
These include the introduction of Moments Live - a collection of musical and food-led events provided by partnerships with Universal Music Group and LITV Entertainment Group.
Where the evolution of the Moments service gets especially interesting is in the provision of 8,000 additional experiences that are only available to members of the loyalty program.
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Furthermore, Marriott says all products on Moments will be available for purchase using points collected on the Rewards packages across the group.
The Moments platform has seen considerable development in the last year after Marriott made an equity investment in PlacePass.
The U.S.-based company says it is a price comparison service for tours and activities but, essentially for the Marriott program, provides and a search service for products in a destination and then allows customers to make a booking on a partner site (such as Viator, GetYourGuide, Tiqets, Musement, et al) but within PlacePass.
The user interface that PlacePass created is what customers use on Marriott Moments, as a white label.
The company was launched in 2016 by co-founders Ethan Hawkes and Emily Bernard, and has raised $14 million over two rounds in 2016 and 2017.
Other developments elsewhere
The tours and activities sector has also caught the attention of Mr & Mrs Smith, the U.K.-based, upscale hotel booking platform.
The company has expanded its existing partnership with SideStory to make a full acquisition of the company.
SideStory curates experiences in London and Paris, allowing users to book tours, attractions and other cultural products in each city.
These are already available on Mr & Mrs Smith through an two-year-old alliance between the pair but full integration of the platform is expected in due course.