MARRIOTT International
has big plans for the
South African market,
particularly its mission to
strengthen its relationship
with the local travel trade.
“Over the past year, the
South African market has
grown in significance and
we thought it was time to
launch our first global sales
mission in the region, where
our general managers and
sales managers could meet
with clients and gain insight
into the market,” said host,
Vladimir Dabbah, Marriott
International’s vp of global
sales for the Middle East
and Africa.
An important part of
growing its presence in
the region is working more
closely with the travel
trade. “Seventy per cent
of the market is based on
intermediaries and their
influence is great in directing
customers where to book,”
Vladimir said.
Travel agents can also look
forward to easier bookings,
with the next step following
Marriott’s acquisition
of Protea Hotels being
the integration of Protea
Hotels within the Marriott
International portfolio of
brands on GDS systems.
But Vladimir could not say
when this would happen,
as the priority was to first
educate staff, customers
and the trade on the brands
and the integration of their
businesses, he said.
The Marriott brand will
also benefit from Protea’s
strong relationships with the
trade, said Kamran Mustafa,
Marriott International’s
regional director of global
sales for the Middle East and
Africa. “Protea has strong
relationships with corporate
and MICE managers in
Africa. It’s a well-respected
brand and we can leverage
the partnership,” he said.
Marriott International had
been busy promoting the
Protea brand and South
Africa to its global associates
and would continue to
market the destination
abroad, he added.
The travel trade can
learn more about Marriott
through its online training
programmes, ‘Hotel
Excellence!’ and ‘Meetings
Excellence!’, which provide
online training for travel
agents and meeting
professionals to learn more
about the brand and how
to sell it, Vladimir said. The
online training includes
audio and multimedia,
information about different
services offered at Marriott
hotels, and interactive
exercises. Protea Hotels
will be integrated into the
educational programmes,
Kamran added.
