Marriott International, Inc. (MAR/NYSE) will offer select ARC-appointed corporate travel departments NET rates at volume locations instead of paying a commission for a hotel booking. This is consistent with Marriott`s policy of not paying commissions to corporate accounts.

During the last couple of months, we conducted a series of focus groups, one-on-one interviews and surveys with corporate clients, corporate travel managers, travel agents, industry associations, travel consultants and non-hotel supplier companies in the travel industry to ask them for their input regarding compensation for corporate travel departments, said Bruce Wolff, senior vice president distribution sales and marketing. We also received assistance from NBTA and ACTE by asking their membership to respond to information sent out on their e-mail communications networks.

After reviewing the responses, we believe that commissions do not meet the corporate account`s needs nor do they fit with our long-term strategy of providing value in a hotel corporate rate program, said Wolff.

Wolff noted that a vast majority of the corporate accounts surveyed agreed that it is in their best interest to have as much value in their corporate rate as possible.

Wolff and other representatives from Marriott spoke with everyone who had questions and concerns and personally met with interested corporate accounts during NBTA`s recent annual conference to inform them of Marriott`s decision regarding compensation.

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