Travel agents rail against Marriott's direct booking campaign

Marriott recently came out with a series of online videos featuring YouTube star Grace Helbig that encourages guests to book direct with the site. Well, travel agents took it personally, and on Tuesday, American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) President Zane Kerby released an official statement pushing back against the #ItPaysToBookDirect ads and urging the hotel drop the campaign.

Kerby writes:

"Marriott's new marketing campaign, which tells consumers that they can only find the best rates on Marriott.com, is not only disparaging to travel agents, but also misleading to the traveling public."

Travel agents have access to the same rates customers would directly, Kerby attests, and therefore he questions the legality and truthfulness of the campaign. He calls it "incomprehensible" that the hotel chain would encourage people to skip over "the same professional travel agents that Marriott selects to help market its services."

Meanwhile, Kerby leverages the statement to essentially remind us all that travel agents and third-party booking sites are still useful and relevant: "The professional travel agent is the best search engine the consumer can find."

However, this is one instance where we happen to agree with Marriott — at first glance it might seem like a better deal to book with a third-party booking site, but it's almost always in your favor to book your stay directly with a hotel.

UPDATE:

Marriott responded to our request for comment with the following statement:

We highly value our relationship with travel agents and recognize the service they offer to customers. The current digital marketing campaign is simply another common practice effort to create awareness of our existing site to inform customers who choose to make their own reservations.