Marriott Signs ResortPass Deal. Why Hotels Are Pushing to Sell More Than Rooms.
Photo Credit: A pool at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa in Hawai'i. Marriott International
Skift Take
Hotels have long treated the room as the only thing worth selling. Marriott's deal with ResortPass signals a growing sideline to boost margins: selling empty pool chairs and spa slots to locals who show up for the day.
Marriott has signed a multiyear deal to make the startup ResortPass an approved vendor for day access to specific products like cabanas and pools. The agreement, shared first with Skift and set to be announced Wednesday, lets Marriott properties use ResortPass on beneficial terms.
Why it matters: The deal matters less for its own size than for what it confirms about a megatrend of hotels starting to sell much more than rooms. Day passes aren't new, but the category is maturing fast, with standardized procedures for handling non-guests and purpose-built pricing tools.
Hotel sales of non-room revenue remain so small that none of the major groups have disclosed totals. They're far behind airlines, which generated 15% of their revenues from upsells last year, according to IdeaWorks. Yet hotel
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