TRAVEL: Starwood Hotels and Resorts and TripAdvisor Announce New Instant Booking Partnership
By MIKE BONTS Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and TripAdvisor announced today they have partnered to make Starwood’s global hotel portfolio accessible on the TripAdvisor instant booking platform. The partnership enables Starwood to market and merchandise its brands to a unique customer base, starting in the first half of this year. “We are excited about an enhanced relationship with TripAdvisor as it allows us to deepen our touch-points with TripAdvisor’s global community of travelers while maintaining a consistent connection with guests before, during, and after their stay at a Starwood hotel,” said Julie Atkinson , Senior Vice President of Global Digital for Starwood Hotels & Resorts . “We appreciate the work TripAdvisor has done to expand upon the existing distribution models and the partnership will provide a clear benefit to our global hotel portfolio.” With TripAdvisor instant booking, users click on a “Book Now” button to initiate...