Skift Take
It's too early to tell how the Marriott/Starwood merger will impact individual brands, but it does give the new company stronger leverage in terms of online bookings and loyalty rewards.
In today's analyst call following the announcement of the Marriott/Starwood Hotels merger, Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson said there are no plans to divest any of the Starwood brands.
Instead, Sorenson said that all of the Starwood flags have specific demand in the marketplace, and they all have opportunity to grow more quickly due to the combined company's heightened positioning and leverage power.
The Online Booking Factor
We reported on April 30, 2015 that Sorenson said Marriott wasn't interested in any large mergers in the near term, but today he said that Marriott's change of
