Last week, Marriott announced the next phase of its digital strategy involves mobile payments, beginning with Apply Pay this summer at a dozen U.S. hotels spread across different brands ranging from Courtyard by Marriott to Ritz-Carlton.
According to George Corbin, SVP digital at Marriott International, he says the introduction of mobile payments was a natural next step in Marriott’s digital evolution, and the process of introducing the Apple technology was fairly straightforward. The bigger picture, he emphasizes, revolves around Marriott creating a fully integrated mobile strategy to deliver a seamless digital user experience throughout the entire guest journey.
Presently, Apple Pay is offered only on iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, iPad Air 2, iPad Mini 3, and soon Apple Watch for use in U.S. retail locations. Marriott will partner with other mobile payment providers as those opportunities make themselves available, which have been relatively slow to develop across the e-commerce industry.
