October 7, 2021 | U.S. & Canada Franchise Management Company Webinar
| Publication of new Owner & Franchise Communications on mi360 continues to be temporarily suspended. Important information is communicated to owners, franchisees and franchise management companies through other channels including the weekly U.S. & Canada Franchise Update email, Franchise Management Company webinar, and monthly webinar for Marriott Managed Owners in the U.S. |
Thank you for joining us on Thursday, October 7 for the U.S. & Canada Franchise Management Company Webinar. If you were unable to join, a recording and PDF of the presentation are now available (EID and password required).
This webinar covered COVID-19 updates and resources, including:
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U.S. & Canada Franchise Update | Oct. 7, 2021 |
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Review Q4 Game Plan |
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Review 2022 Marketing Co-Op Programs and Opt In by Oct. 31, if Desired |
Sales, Marketing, & Revenue Management Update
Travel Trends
- Openness to travel is steady heading into fall, but flexibility remains important due to uncertainties as the resurgence of COVID-19 cases continues.
- COVID remains a barrier to getting fulfillment out of travel experiences.
- Industry-wide on-the-books room nights declined vs. 2 weeks prior, however occupancy improved in nearly all markets outside of the Americas in August.
GBTA Annual Convention
- What? Reignite the business travel industry by participating in the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) Annual Convention (optional).
- When? Nov. 17-19, 2021
- Where? Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, FL
- Why? The GBTA Convention 2021 will be the largest gathering of business travel professionals since the onset of the pandemic. This year’s event is more important than ever as we learn how to make sure our brands are at the forefront of our customer’s minds as they rebuild and rejuvenate their corporate BT programs.
- How? Details on how to register, the agenda, participation fees and housing information can be found via the following link: https://cvent.me/RbvnlR. Registration closes Nov. 1.
Week of Wonders
Week of Wonders, featuring exceptional travel offers available exclusively for Marriott Bonvoy members, launched at 12 a.m. ET today and runs through Oct. 14.
Members can take advantage of everything in the Marriott Bonvoy travel program – whether that’s hotel stays at a 25% discount, redemption offers, credit card offers, home rental deals, flights, or unique experiences on the Marriott Bonvoy Moments platform, to name a few.
Week of Wonders is an opportunity to show appreciation toward our members and recognize them in unique ways by using the marketing assets and activation ideas throughout the toolkit. This can help drive Guest Satisfaction Survey (GSS) scores and improve Elite Appreciation scores. Week of Wonders also presents a seamless opportunity to increase your enrollment numbers by appealing to guests who aren’t already members.
A toolkit and FAQs can be found on MGS to support hotels wishing to activate the campaign on property. No cost or action is required by hotels to participate in this promotion.
Week of Wonders Global Rate Offer
U.S. and Canada Offer Structure Leveraging Marriott Bonvoy Escapes
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- Booking Window: Thursday, Oct. 7 – Thursday, Oct. 14 (8 days)
- Stay Window: Through Monday, Jan. 17 (Includes Monday MLK, Jr. holiday)
- Availability: Thursday-Sunday (core hotels) and 7 days a week (resorts)
- Cancel Policy: Pre-paid, cancel up to 72-hours before arrival
- Rate Offer: Member discount 25% off retail / Non-member discount 15%
- Commission: Member rate = Non-commissionable, Non-member = commissionable
- Distribution: Marriott-owned channels and OTA partners (Expedia, Priceline, Booking.com)
- Brands: All Marriott Bonvoy participating brands, excluding The Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, Edition, and Design Hotels
For more information, visit MGS.
Escape to Luxury
The October campaign for Escape to Luxury offer launched with similar parameters during Week of Wonders to take advantage of customer activity from overall marketing efforts for the global rate offer.
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- Booking Window: Thursday, Oct. 7 – Thursday, Oct. 14 (8 days)
- Stay Window: Through Monday, Jan. 17 (includes Monday MLK, Jr. holiday)
- Availability: Thursday-Sunday (core hotels) and 7 days a week (resorts); minimum 2-nights
- Cancel Policy: Pre-paid, cancel up to 72-hours before arrival
- Rate Offer: Member folio credit up to $300* / Non-member folio credit up to $200*
- Commission: Member rate = Non-commissionable, Non-member = commissionable
- Distribution: Marriott-owned channels and OTA partners
- Brands: Includes The Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, and Edition
For more information, visit MGS.
Sales Closing Tools: Q4 Extension
- Group closing tools have been extended through Q4 to assist hotels in closing group business through December 2022.
- Hotels are responsible for the cost of the points they award.
- Editable sales flyers are available for immediate use at hotel’s discretion via MGS.
- Hotels are responsible to manually award the points to the clients.
- Offers are subject to hotel availability. discretion to use
DOUBLE TAKE CLOSING TOOL
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- Offer: Double points to meeting planners that sign contracts by Dec. 31, 2021 to host an event or meeting by December 2022. There is also a Triple Take flier in case hotels want to offer 3x points.
INTERMEDIARY CLOSING TOOL
Offer: Tiered point awards based on number of actualized rooms to intermediaries that sign contracts by Dec. 31, 2021 to to host an event or meeting by December 2022.
Operations Update
Courtyard Bistro is Back
Goals:
Provide positive guest experience, drive profitability, update menu to address supply chain challenges, and create operational efficiencies.
Key Changes:
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- Simplified, common menu across all Courtyard hotels
- Flexibility to add additional items from a menu library
- Menu updates twice yearly
- Reduction in hard to procure/costly ingredients
- Synergies with menu items in other brands
- Reduction in specialty cocktails; ability to batch
- Fewer hours required for training
Deployment:
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- Pre-recorded webinar and Land It tasks available beginning today
- Order menus from vendor Oct. 8-15*
- Continue preparations through year end
- MGS Keyword: Bistro 3.0
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* Outstanding invoices from 2020 must be paid to order new menus.
October 2021 Cybersecurity Awareness Month
Background: Cybersecurity Awareness Month is an annual cyber awareness campaign sponsored by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and supported by industry partners.
A partner since 2017, Marriott International participates in this annual campaign to increase and spread cyber awareness during the month of October by leveraging NCSA materials as well as our own.
Objective: Through our partnership with NCSA, we help educate associates at Marriott hotels on how to stay safe online with safer security practices and employee training – and by doing so our interconnected world will be a safer and more resilient place for all.
Marriott 2021 Theme & Key Messages: Do Your Part. #BeCyberSmart.
Week 1 of Cybersecurity Awareness Month will highlight security best practices including strong passwords, use of multi-factor authentication, backing up data, and keeping software up-to-date as best practices.
Week 2 will stress the importance of being wary of social engineering attacks, including emails, text messages, and phone calls that come from a stranger or someone you were not expecting. Associates are asked to do their part by thinking before they click on links or attachments in email messages and reporting suspicious emails.
Week 3 will promote awareness of common cybersecurity threats and privacy risks observed in retail and hospitality organizations. We will host a webinar with experts from Marriott’s Information Security & Privacy teams who will share key best practices for keeping information safe while on the job.
Week 4 is all about making security a priority. We will help associates keep cybersecurity at the forefront of their minds as they connect daily by sharing a checklist of information security activities to perform throughout the year, such as considering security and privacy settings and updating default passwords on home devices.
Resources & Best Practices
Review Security Awareness Materials on MGS https://mgscloud.marriott.com/common/business-resources/information-protection/security-awareness
Share the security awareness collateral with your stakeholders or and in other appropriate settings to reinforce secure behaviors and a global, security aware user community:
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- MGS Carousel Banners
- Posters (5) – each focused on a good cyber habit (e.g., long passwords are strong passwords)
- Tip Sheets (5) – each focuses on cybersecurity best practices
- Cybersecurity Digital Wallpaper Pack (2) – includes wallpapers that can be used on Marriott Workstations
- Cybersecurity Awareness Anime Style Microlearning Videos
Register for a Cybersecurity Awareness Webinar (Optional)
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- Protect Your Data from Identity Theft (featuring Frank Abagnale) – Oct. 13; 8:30 a.m. OLC11479109
- Protect Marriott from Cyber Threats & Privacy Risks – Oct. 21; 8:30 a.m. OLC11510043
Engage with the Phishing Awareness Program
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- Hover over links instead of clicking – if it looks suspicious, report it
- Inspect file attachments before opening them – if it looks suspicious, report it
- Don’t give up your personal data – if you receive an uninvited request, report it
- If you are susceptible to any of the scenarios – report it
Review Franchise Standards & Applicable Training