Marriott International’s upcoming acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts will have a transformative impact on the existing businesses of both companies。First，The market in international metropolises such as New York is oversaturated；Secondly，After the acquisition is completed, Marriott will own 30 brands，Too many brands also have a great impact on the stability of a company。

But about the merger of the two，The strongest and most frequent concerns arise from the two hotels’ respective loyalty programs: Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest。If the two can be perfectly merged，The largest membership loyalty program in the hotel industry will be born，As optimistically described by Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson，“It’s like a lock on loyalty”。

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Recently，After Marriott’s earnings call，Sorenson told the media，They wanted to create a combined program that offered everything a customer could want - a program that was so powerful that the customer would say, "Why do I need to get another card?"。“We heard it loud and clear from Starwood SPG members: tell me we won’t be affected！" Sorenson said，“No problem，You will be fine。I want to make sure we continue to earn your loyalty。”

Sorenson reiterated comments he made earlier on the company's earnings call。“How to combine two leading loyalty programs, Marriott Loyalty Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest, to create a stronger system？What members on both sides of this merger are most concerned about is whether their rights and interests are still protected，One of the main reasons for this acquisition is to further strengthen our commitment to member loyalty programs。”

But that’s not the only reason。Sorenson and incoming CFO Leeny Oberg provide more details related to the M&A deal。According to Sorenson，If the March 28 shareholder vote goes as planned，Then the M&A transaction is expected to be completed in June。Currently，Marriott does not have the privilege of entering the Starwood system。Although some Starwood numbers were lower than expected，Sorenson hopes that the sales and development teams will try not to be affected or even distracted 188bet Online Sports Betting and Casino by this matter。Sorenson emphasizes，Starwood’s M&A transaction is different from other M&A transactions，He believes that Delta from previous mergers and acquisitions、Protea and Gaylord are both “warm-up acquisitions”。

Oberg said，Once the acquisition is completed，Marriott will move quickly to sell the properties in question，In line with the group’s asset-light brand strategy。“We look forward to recovering capital as soon as possible and incorporating these into the management agreement，Once the M&A transaction is completed，We will conduct asset sales of US$1.5-2 billion。"Although some analysts have expressed concerns about this，But Oberg said，“For high-quality assets such as Starwood，We expect a solid buyer’s market。”

In his speech, Sorenson compared the Starwood acquisition to two other key moments in Marriott's history: its 1993 separation from its real estate holding group to become an independent hotel and resort，And similar Marriott Vacation Club established in 2011，This shows the importance it attaches to this merger。

Event background: Marriott acquires Starwood, membership plan causes concerns

April 2015，Starwood Group’s board of directors stated，Because the growth rate is not as fast as that of competitors，Will consider selling assets。And just seven months later，The matter fell to the ground 188bet app quickly。November 2015，Marriott International announced that it will acquire Starwood for approximately US$12.2 billion，The merger is expected to be completed in mid-2016。Starwood has always focused on mid- to high-end products，Owns Westin Hotel、W Hotel、Regis、Sheraton and many other well-known hotel brands，More than 1,200 hotels around the world、More than 360,000 rooms；Marriott International has 19 selected hotel brands、More than 4300 hotels、About 750,000 rooms。Once the transaction is completed，Marriott will become a hotel brand covering 30 hotels in one fell swoop、5500 hotels、The world’s largest hotel operator with 1.11 million rooms。

Membership plan，Both the Marriott Loyalty Rewards program and the Starwood Preferred Guest program have a large number of users around the world，Among them, there are 54 million existing members of the Marriott Loyalty Rewards Program，The Starwood Preferred Guest Program has 21 million。Although judging from the number of two companies，Marriott has an overwhelming advantage，But judging by the popularity of the membership program，Starwood is obviously better。It is reported，Starwood Preferred Guest is one of the most generous loyalty programs in the world，Starwood hotel points are very useful，Not only can it offset the price、Upgrade room、Redeem free meals，Can also be exchanged for airline miles to redeem air tickets；In comparison，188bet app download Marriott’s hotels have very few airline partners in this regard，And the discounts are not as big as Starwood。In addition，According to Starwood Preferred Guest Program，As long as the customer stays at Starwood hotels at least 25 times per year，Within this year, customers can enjoy the benefit of checking out at 16:00 at the latest every time，However, similar preferential treatment requires a higher threshold to enjoy at Marriott。So Starwood members are generally worried about being acquired by Marriott，Starwood’s frequent guest discount program threshold will be increased。

Marriott CEO Sorenson said in an interview last year，“It would take a long time if we wanted to merge the two loyalty programs，I hope that future members can enjoy more preferential points on the merged platform。The merger means more choices for members，Of course the bigger the better for membership projects，But we don’t just have to be bigger，We still need to make it more perfect。We have already briefed members on some preliminary aspects of the merger through our respective loyalty programs，We will continue to follow up with news。The operations of the two companies will not change much before the merger is completed。”

*Part of this article is compiled from Skift。Author: Qiu Wei，Expert author of affordable travel，Personal WeChat ID MissQiuWei，Welcome 188bet sports betting app download to follow and communicate！