This May, Accor introduced HERA, a loyalty program for exclusive travel consultants. Now Marriott is launching a similar program for SMEs. With Business Access by Marriott Bonvoy, companies can use a multilingual tool to book hotels from the Marriott portfolio at discounted rates as well as flights, train journeys and car hire. The program offers additional features including access to live traveler data, real-time reporting and expense management. It is available in the USA, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America, with plans to expand to other regions.
An international survey commissioned by Marriott and conducted by Wakefield Research found that 75% of business travelers from small and medium-sized businesses in the US, UK, Canada and Mexico have had disappointing experiences with their booking platforms. 56% of respondents find these platforms difficult to use, 27% are unhappy that travel and hotels cannot be booked from a central location and more than a quarter (27%) criticize the lack of integration with their billing programs.
Due to these problems, 58% of respondents are not prepared to use the programs provided and prefer to use travel management platforms outside their company instead.
The Business Access functions include
- Customized travel policies: Travel managers can control their company's travel policy and ensure compliance with spend limits, from setting clear individual policies to managing expenses.
- Global travel policy management and reporting: Real-time analytics provide detailed insights into travel spend, sustainability reporting (including CO2 emissions from flights, rail travel and car hire) and behavioral patterns so policies can be adjusted.
- Health and safety of travelers: The "Travel Insights" tool provides managers with insights into the well-being and safety of employees while travelling. Interactive maps provide information about potential disruptions and minimize risks.
- Expense management solutions: Registered companies are given access to a corresponding tool. It can be seamlessly integrated into existing platforms and process payments with virtual credit cards. In addition, expense reports can be automated based on predefined guidelines (www.marriott.com/businessaccess). / red
