Marriott International unveiled a travel management platform called Business Access by Marriott Bonvoy that it said was a "one-stop shop" travel-booking tool designed for small- to medium-sized businesses.
Marriott said that the online booking tool, which goes live today, would streamline the travel management process for corporate travelers, as well as offer access to discounted Marriott Bonvoy rates and other perks across Marriott's portfolio. In addition to booking hotels, travelers using the Business Access by Marriott Bonvoy tool can book flight, rail and rental cars.
Travel managers can use the platform to customize travel policies; access analytics related to travel spend and sustainability reporting; and monitor traveler health and safety via interactive maps. Additionally, businesses have the option to integrate the program with their existing expense management platforms, enabling them to submit payments with virtual credit cards and automate expense reports.
It also provides employees of small- and medium-sized businesses with access to Marriott Bonvoy benefits like free breakfast, late checkout and mobile check-in when available.
The platform is powered by travel-focused tech company Spotnana. It is now available across the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America, with further expansion to follow.
According to Marriott, the impetus for creating the tool came in response to a survey of 1,500 business travelers at small and midsized businesses that uncovered widespread dissatisfaction with existing travel booking systems. The survey, conducted by Wakefield Research in late May across the U.S., U.K., Canada and Mexico, found that 75% of respondents reported experiencing frustrations with their travel booking platforms; 56% cited difficulty in using their platform as a primary concern and 58% said that "they would rather ask for forgiveness than permission" when it came to booking outside their companies' travel management platforms.
The survey defined small companies as those with fewer than 1,000 employees and midsize companies as those with 1,000 to 4,999 employees.