Marriott and Protea: a year on

MARRIOTT International’s

acquisition of Protea

Hotels has not only

strengthened the South

African hotel chain’s brand

internationally but has served

as an entrance for Marriott into

the local market, giving the

brands leverage in each other’s

markets. This is according

to Protea Hotels’ director of

sales, marketing and revenue,

Danny Bryer, who spoke to

TNW to reflect on the past year

of Protea’s transition into a

Marriott International affiliate.

Marriott International

acquired Protea Hotels in April

last year.

Hotel groups had been

eyeing the African market

as most developing markets

outside South Africa did not

feature international chains,

said Danny. “Marriott was

looking to partner with a brand

that had local knowledge to

get a foothold into the South

African market and expand the

Marriott brand as well as its

18 affiliates.”

On the flip side, Protea had

noticed increased interest

in the brand in key markets

abroad, where Marriott is

established – something

largely attributed to Marriott’s

loyalty programme, said

Danny. “We have our Prokard

loyalty programme, with a

membership of 300 000,

while the Marriott Rewards

loyalty programme has over

50m members globally. That’s

almost the population of South

Africa. To be able to market

South Africa to the 50m-strong

loyalty members is key for us.”

The integration of systems

has been the focus of the

merger during this first

year. “Marriott has over

4 300 hotels globally and

the Marriott website is the

fourth biggest in America.

It was imperative that we

became part of their global

distribution,” explained

Danny. “The key driver was to

ensure that Marriott’s sales

offices will start producing

new markets in South Africa,

especially in light of the

recent issues of Ebola and

xenophobia, which affected

the perception of the country

internationally.” As of May,

Protea has also been included

under the Marriott umbrella on

the GDS.

In terms of corporate

agreements, Protea’s contracts

and terms and conditions

do not change. Said Danny:

“The change comes in on the

inbound consortia accounts –

these contracts now fall under

the Marriott environment.”

He added that Marriott’s

purchase of Protea had been

well received by the trade.

“With more consumers going

online, the ‘local is global’

concept has become a reality.

Protea has now become a

global entity that can offer

customers the opportunity

to travel abroad and receive

corporate rates anywhere in

the world.

“Up until now, Marriott

hasn’t had much weight in

South Africa. So the fact that

Protea is endorsing Marriott

has also been well received.”

Marriott International would

introduce the Marriott brand

in South Africa, said Danny.

Although there are no concrete

plans at this stage, the

Johannesburg and Cape Town

city centres will be considered

as the destinations for the

properties.