Hotel Merger of Marriott International and Starwood Hotels 'Good for Corporate Guests'
by Siti Zawani
@ 04 Dec 2015
Marriott International surprised the hospitality industry with its proposed US$12.2 billion (S$17.3 billion) acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide last week - a deal that analysts say is significant and "transformative". The merger, which will create the world's largest hotel firm, is set for completion by mid-2016.
In Singapore, the combined company will have 2,323 existing hotel rooms, including properties such as Marriott Hotel, Sheraton Towers, The Westin and Ritz-Carlton. A big advantage arising from the proposed deal is in the loyalty schemes, which will expand their customer database.
Consultancy Savills (Singapore) said the group will be able to tie up with more significant partners to offer better loyalty scheme benefits. "This is especially important for corporate travellers, and this will be Marriott and Starwood's advantage over other chains," said Mr Julien Naouri, associate director of hotels, Asia-Pacific, at Savills (Singapore). Get all the details at
http://goo.gl/vBUQj0
