This home in Lisbon is included in Marriott’s European pilot program. PHOTO: MARRIOTT
Marriott International hotel group is set to expand its rental services and products to compete with the home rental companies such as Airbnb whose presence in the accommodation industry is threatening hotels. In the US, the world biggest hotel operator plans to expand its market to capture the expanding tourism industry. Markedly Airbnb and other home-rental companies have continued to acquire hotel businesses to gain a competitive advantage over the traditional hospitality sector. Therefore, with increasing competition, Marriott has planned to venture into the home-sharing business and integrate current products and services. However, it is predicted that the company will attract new competition as well as meet safety management challenges. Due to such possible impediments, Marriott is collaborating a rental management company, Hostmaker, from London and US property management firms to establish home sharing services in London, Rome, Paris, and Lisbon.
According to Marriott's management, their successful pilot program established that combining a typical hotel with rental services will accommodate different customer needs in the hospitality industry. Markedly, some other global hospitality brands such as Hyatt and Accor in Paris have collaborated with rental management companies to introduce home rental services and products. However, due to increased competition from Airbnb, Accor reported a negative performance in 2018. In fact, Airbnb is set to collaborate with over 400,000 companies in its plan on corporate traveler project, Lyric, a $160 million start-up to completely dictate the apartment-rental business.
The quest for market power and competitive advantage has prompted different businesses to pursue different marketing strategies. Marriott’s entry into the home-rental business is essential in this marketing analysis as it provided a new platform to compete through different strategies. This article covers important marketing aspects such as E-marketing trends stressing product as critically influential in business operations (Strauss & Frost, 2008). In efforts to remain the leader of home-rental services, Airbnb has utilized a blend of marketing elements including pricing, promotional activities, products and services, and business alliances. Therefore, the post is relevant in our study because it explores elements of service marketing where technology, people, and strategy will be core in Marriott's success. Its pilot program to understand consumers, service products, and the market is integral, as the competition with Airbnb will define the future of hotels in the rental services.
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