DUBAI, UAE – February 10, 2017 – Based on the foundation of actual hands-on guest research and feedback, Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) will now offer Marriott Rewards members a dynamic mobile experience personalised for them. Today marks the launch of the newly redesigned and engaging Marriott Mobile app for iOS users in five languages, with Android coming soon. Guests will enjoy new and expanded digital features; customised travel content; simple, one-button navigation; and a new swipe-able discovery home screen.
The new Marriott Mobile app breaks the mold of typical hospitality apps, by going beyond transactions and one-size-fits-all content. For Marriott Rewards members, the new Marriott Mobile app dynamically adjusts to personalise the user’s experience throughout their travel journey. Whether members are in trip planning mode, getting ready to travel, in transit, or enjoying their hotel stay, the app will display content and features based on what services members are most likely to need in that moment of their travel journey.
“Smart devices are now everyone’s indispensable travel companion, as more and more travellers increasingly expect to have their needs satisfied using their mobile phone,” said George Corbin, Senior Vice President of Digital, Marriott International. “Marriott is using mobile to introduce and revolutionise the next generation of customer service to travellers worldwide, delivering a far more personalised and anticipatory stay experience.”
More than half of smartphone owners now use their devices for travel-related activities[i] and, according to Google, 74 percent of people have at least one travel app on their device. Therein lies the opportunity for Marriott to engage with travellers on the platforms where they are most active.
“Many people have an emotional connection with their mobile devices and apps they’ve downloaded. Therefore, it makes sense that we can deepen our relationship with Marriott Rewards members by delivering greater recognition, and easy access to the loyalty programs’ features through our new mobile experience”, said Thom Kozik, vice president of Loyalty, Marriott International. “We know some of our most loyal guests stay with us upwards of 100 nights a year. For them, along with members who stay less frequently, we can become a valuable part of their travel experience on a device they engage with 365 days a year.”
Starting today, the Marriott Mobile app for IOS is available in the Apple App Store in English, Chinese, Spanish, French and German. Following this year, Android users will be able download the app in Google Play.
What’s Inside the App:
Extensive customer research and member feedback is driving the new mobile app experience and will continue to do so as part of Marriott’s ongoing service innovation strategy.
Since Marriott became the first hotel company to offer Mobile Check-in/Checkout and Mobile Room Ready Alerts worldwide in 2014, more than 12 million members have taken advantage of it. The popular feature will now be easier to use and more powerful. For example, when members check in using the app, for the first time they will now be able to request room upgrades and receive notification it has been fulfilled before they arrive. Also for the first time, they will be able to request a late check-out in the app rather than at the front desk, which is guaranteed for Gold and Platinum Elite Members.
With the app’s innovative new navigation, members will find it even easier to customise their stay with Mobile Requests. Guests can use the app to chat directly with hotel staff before, during and after their stays for special requests that require personal attention or choose from a drop-down menu of the most frequently requested services or amenities such as more towels or extra pillows. Fully 54 percent of users make their requests before they’ve even checked-in. Having been the first to offer Mobile Requests globally beginning in 2015, the service is currently available at more than 4,000 hotels worldwide.
With the app relaunch, Marriott is also expanding Mobile Key, rolling out to more than 500 hotels globally this year. Members who check-in using the Marriott Mobile app can choose to skip the front desk and go straight to their room, using their smartphone to open the door.
For travellers in planning mode, they will now be able to precisely narrow down their destination searches by address or point-of-interest to find the closest, most convenient hotel, and to save their favourite hotels for quicker future bookings.
Increasingly, travellers are seeking more authentic destination information from local experts whether they’re choosing where to go or looking for tips for what to do once they get there. For the first time, the app will deliver curated, original content from Marriott’s digital magazine, Traveller based on users’ previous hotel searches or upcoming travels.
Easier Navigation:
Members will engage with the app’s new interface that features an innovative “one-button” ergonomic design. Inspired by observing travellers as they dashed through airports, balancing their phone in one hand and luggage in the other, the new design offers simple thumb-tap access to everything the app has to offer. In a departure from other hospitality apps, the typical “never-changing” home screen has been replaced with four dynamic, swipe-able screens triggered by what travellers may need at a specific point in their journey. For example, members leaving on their trip will see Mobile Check-in and Mobile Requests when they open the app. Whereas the app will greet members with future travels with their Marriott Rewards account information and personalised destination content from Traveller based on preferences and data.
