[image1_right] Marriott International today unveiled a newly designed travel agent web site that offers its Preferred Travel Agencies (PTA) commission direct deposit, 24-hour online commission statement access and research capabilities. The new site enables graduates of the award-winning Hotel Excellence! (HE) travel agent training program to peruse and reserve Fam-Tastic rates and other special packages. The new look of the site makes it easier for the general travel agent community to navigate its new features. Some new attributes include a brand comparison tool and a 24-hour internet help desk.

The new site, which can be accessed at www.marriott.com/travelagents
is the result of months of focus groups and face-to-face meetings with travel agents around the world to determine what travel agents really want in a site.

According to Fred Miller, vice president for global sales, “Marriott International has a legacy with travel agencies of treating them as business partners. Our goal is to help travel agents improve their profitability, grow their knowledge of the product, enhances their selling skills and give them a competitive edge by providing them with tools to better serve their clients and manage their business.”

Mr. Miller continued to say, “When we interviewed our Preferred Travel Agencies, they told us they wanted faster commissions, easier access to information that will assist the sales process, 24-hour support and self-service commission inquiry access. Thus, we designed a site to meet their needs.”

Marriott continues to be the only hotel company worldwide to offer a double commission guarantee. The program (through its CTAC payment System) guarantees that a travel agent who makes a reservation at a commissionable rate using a valid IATA, ARC, TSI or TIDS number will have his or her commission check mailed within 15 business days of the guest’s checkout, or else Marriott will double the commission. (Marriott Executive Apartments and Ritz-Carlton properties do not participate in the double commission guarantee program.)

Marriott offers all participating Pegasus Travel agencies a double commission guarantee if Marriott does not forward accurate commission information to Pegasus for payment within Pegasus’s business cycle.
——-