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March 29, 2018 Integration Updates

March Monthly Integration Recap | SPG Hotels

Franchise Management Companies | Moving forward, we will continue to provide a monthly recap of the key changes shared with – and tasks asked of – SPG branded hotels related to the integration. We appreciate your support in ensuring your hotels remain informed and engaged throughout this process.

As part of our continued effort to keep hotels informed, SPG hotels will continue to receive weekly email content via The Check-In, and Change Crews will have the opportunity to participate in weekly integration webinars, which are held on Tuesdays at 1p.m. ET. Email changecrew.northamerica@marriott.com with any questions. Additionally, franchise management company contacts also have the opportunity to participate in twice monthly webinars which are held on the second and fourth Friday of each month at 2 p.m. ET. Stay tuned to the weekly mi360 RUNDOWN for details, which will be shared the week prior to each webinar.

SUMMARY OF THIS MONTH’S KEY ACTIVITIES

  • Reservation Platform Systems
  • Outage for All SPG Centralized Reservation Channels
  • Prepare for GPOS EMC Workstation Upgrade
  • Changes to myLearning for Franchise Properties
  • Participate in 2018 Engagement Survey
  • Review Details of Conversion to Daily Connected State
  • New Group Intermediary Commission Standard
  • Removal of Dasani Hang Tags and Coasters for In-Room Complimentary Water
  • BCD Travel 2018 Incentive Program

Reservation Platform Systems | SPG hotels  will be migrating to the Marriott reservations, revenue management, and sales and catering systems tools so that they can be sold across Marriott channels. To ensure minimal disruption to the guest experience during the migration– and due to dependencies on the Global Distribution Systems (GDS) – the deployment strategy for the Reservations Platform is to transition hotels by brand on a specified date, in a compressed period of time.

An online database has been created for SPG hotels to help them prepare for their brand’s system “cutover” date, by determining which systems they will transition to as part of the Reservations Platform.

The online database is accessible via MGS. Note: properties will need to enter their hotel’s SW PIN to access their detailed information, which includes their cutover date as well as which systems they will transition to on that date. For hotels that will transition to Consolidated Inventory/Total Yield (CI/TY), action is required, and your hotels have should completed their workbook and submit by the March 30 deadline.

Outage for All SPG Centralized Reservation Channels  | The NDS database, which serves all Reservation, StarGuest, and SPG applications, will be unavailable on April 7 between 12 and 3:30 a.m. ET as it is refreshed to new IBM hardware. During the migration, all channels, Valhalla CRS (including Valhalla Portal), SPG.com, ROS, and StarGuest applications will be unavailable. A maintenance page will be set-up for all channels during the migration and guests may still make reservations by calling hotels directly. Once the cutover is complete and iT validates all applications, the maintenance page will be removed, and all channels will be back online.

Prepare for GPOS EMC Workstation Upgrade | Hotels on GPOS (Hosted Simphony) will be upgraded to version 2.9.3.2 between April – June. Refer to the roll-out schedule to see when your property is scheduled to upgrade. Review the Readiness Guide and take action to prepare prior to your hotel’s schedule upgrade. Make sure to sign-up for the Starwood hosted Simphony communication so you receive the information.

Access to Training and Resources on myLearning | All associates at franchised Marriott and SPG Rewards properties in the Americas who have an EID now automatically have access to myLearning. If an SPG associate had learning history in Development Center and they would like to add it to myLearning, visit MGS for more information.

Additionally, access to a Franchise Learning Coordinator is now available to help properties foster a culture of learning. Visit MGS for additional information and next steps to take advantage of these new features.

Participate in 2018 Engagement Survey | Talent Point offers an Engagement Survey tool specifically designed for the franchise community. The  Engagement Survey is designed to measure work environment health from the perspective of the employee.

In order for franchise locations to participate in the Engagement Survey, registration is required. Franchise locations who have not registered online in the ES Center by April 6, 8 p.m. ET will not be able to participate in the 2018 program.

Review Details of Conversion to Daily Connected State | Franchised hotels will be moved to DAILY “connected” status, which means that ROS will no longer provide a recommended rate each day for the DAILY rate. Instead, the user will set the rate, typically a percentage off retail rate, and can define a booking window where the rate is no longer offered. This change is mandatory for Managed by Marriott hotels, and strongly recommended for franchised hotels. Franchised hotels who wish to opt out must complete a survey and accompanying documentation by April 6.

New Group Intermediary Commission Standard Effective March 31 | The revised brand standard reduces commissions paid to group intermediaries globally for business sourced to hotels in the U.S. and Canada from 10% to 7% for group business contracted after March 31. It is a mandatory brand standard for all managed and franchised Marriott International hotels in the U.S. and Canada and is not negotiable. Weekly audits will be conducted to ensure that sales associates and hotels are complying with the revised standard. Contracts found to be non-compliant will be escalated as appropriate. More information, including FAQs is available on MGS.

Removal of Dasani Hang Tags and Coasters for In-Room Complimentary Water | As SPG hotels complete the transition to PepsiCo, they should discontinue the use of Dasani-branded hang tags and coasters for in-room complimentary water. Hotels should continue to provide in-room complimentary water, but should transition to Aquafina once converted to PepsiCo products. Review the Pepsi FAQs for further details.

BCD Travel 2018 Incentive Program | Marriott’s TMC partner agreement with BCD Travel will provide for a bonus incentive based on incremental BAR (best available rate) growth at participating hotels. All hotels will be considered participating unless they opt out for 2018 via the Program Response Portal on iFAST no later than April 6. If you do not wish for your hotels to participate, please provide guidance to them in advance of this deadline. A list of participating hotels will be available on MGS by April 10.