It appears that the planned ‘MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy’ program won’t be rolled out this year as initially intended. The launch of an exclusive long-term strategic licensing agreement between Marriott International and MGM Resorts International, first announced back in July, has been postponed until 2024, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The Las Vegas outlet speculated that this delay might be attributable to the cyberattack on MGM Resorts in September, which cost the hospitality company an estimated $100 million. Although the two hotel companies issued a joint statement in October disclosing that the agreement wouldn’t go into effect until next year, no explanation was offered as to the reason for this decision.?
“Marriott International and MGM Resorts International are creating an extraordinary experience for our loyalty members with the introduction of MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy,” the statement read. “Our two companies are excited to deliver world-class offerings and benefits for our guests. We look forward to debuting MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy by early 2024.”?
According to the outlet, various trade publications have reasoned that the postponement may be linked to the alleged ransomware attack that crippled MGM’s systems for nine days, starting on September 10. Theories posit that the cyberattack, and the countermeasures it demanded, could have cut into the time and manpower needed to finalize the deal.
Although its rollout has been delayed, the new licensing agreement is set to make several ‘MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy’ resorts available for booking via Marriott’s digital platforms, including Marriott.com and the Marriott Bonvoy mobile app, in addition to MGM’s own channels, such as MGMRewards.com and the MGM Resorts mobile app.
The move is seen as being all the more significant in light of the fact that it supplants a similar (albeit, not as extensive) arrangement with Hyatt Hotels Corp., which expired in September.
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The Chandelier at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas (Photo Credit: MGM Resorts International)
“Between now and the go-active date in October, we’re going to roll out all the details on how the reciprocal benefits work, the ability to transfer points between the Bonvoy platform and the MGM Rewards platform and how the pairing of accounts will work, and all those details will be made available to the respective programs in the coming weeks and months,” Marriott CEO Anthony Capuano said in a July interview.
However, neither MGM nor Marriott responded to the Review-Journal’s request for comment on the reasons for the program’s delayed launch, so perhaps those details are still being ironed out internally.
When it eventually does take effect, the licensing deal is expected to funnel thousands of Marriott loyalty program members to MGM properties around the country. But, those in Las Vegas are perhaps likely to reap the most rewards from the arrangement. “Previously, management indicated that Marriott Bonvoy members accounted for nearly 20 percent of room nights at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas,” John DeCree, a gaming analyst with CBRE Equity Research, wrote in a prior report.
Marriott Bonvoy members are seen to spend more at Sin City’s hotels and casinos than guests who booked through booking engines, or other online travel agencies. Back in July, MGM Resorts' CEO Bill Hornbuckle said that the Marriott partnership represents, “the opportunity to get scale and velocity with a customer that is excited about Las Vegas, the high-end spending customer that likes to come here.”
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