Travel search engine SideStep, Inc. has signed an agreement with Marriott International, Inc. With this agreement, SideStep will take consumers directly to Marriott's branded Web sites to book their travel.

Published: 19 Oct 2005

Travel search engine SideStep, Inc. has signed an agreement with Marriott International, Inc. With this agreement, SideStep will take consumers directly to Marriott's branded Web sites to book their travel.

"SideStep will be the first travel search engine with permission to
search Marriott's sites for the hotelier's published rates," said the
company in a statement.

Shafiq Khan, senior vice president, eCommerce, Marriott International
said that the company chose Sidestep because of its consumer and
supplier friendly business model, and its wealth of experience in the
travel search space.

"We are being very selective about our sales and marketing channels,
placing specific emphasis on brand image and costs. A key objective of
ours is to drive transactions through Marriott.com and pay for value.
We consider Sidestep an important part of this effort," said Khan.

This agreement will drive travel search transactions through an XML link
from SideStep to Marriott's web site for the company's JW Marriott,
Marriott, Renaissance, Courtyard, Residence Inn, Fairfield Inn,
TownePlace Suites and SpringHill Suites brands.

Don Smith, vice president, hotels, SideStep said, "By selecting
SideStep, Marriott has reaffirmed SideStep's key role in this rapidly
growing market. We appreciate this vote of confidence and will deliver
for Marriott an unbeatable mix of customer quantity and quality."

For SideStep, the latest agreement follows its recent tie-up with Hilton
Hotels Corporation.

Phil Carpenter, vice president of corporate marketing for SideStep.com,
recently told eyefortravel.com in an interview that the partnership with
Hilton illustrates how well SideStep's model is aligned with the
strategic direction of major hoteliers.

"Companies like Hilton want to engage directly with online travel
buyers. SideStep brings consumers straight to the hoteliers' Web sites,
enabling them both to reduce their cost of sales and to forge direct
relationships between consumers and the hotel brands. What's more, we
can drive such business to hoteliers at a scale that no other company in
the travel search sector can match. Hilton, Starwood, InterContinental
Hotels and others have all signed on with SideStep, and you can
anticipate similar announcements from us in the months to come,"
Carpenter had said.

On preferences of consumers when they visit SideStep.com, Carpenter had
said, "We find our customers to be particularly interested in choice and
value. SideStep has a large and diverse partner network, and it is the
strength of this network that enables us to deliver so well on these two
key customer requirements. Looking for a Holiday Inn? You won't find it
through Expedia. Want to see hotel deals from Orbitz? You won't find
them on Kayak. But SideStep has these brands -- and plenty of others. By
searching such a broad collection of travel providers, we help consumers
to discover all sorts of good options. Our SmartSort filtering
technology then enables travelers to zero in on the choices that are
best for them."