Marriott International has penned an agreement with ride-hailing, food delivery, and digital payments platform Grab that will see the hospitality giant integrate with the Grab app. Marriott will gradually integrate into Grab’s platform across food delivery, payments, transport, loyalty and rewards, and advertising.

“Marriott International is constantly looking for ways to innovate and bring value to travellers and Marriott Bonvoy members as part of our partnership strategy,” said Rajeev Menon, President, Asia Pacific (excluding China) at Marriott International. “Our collaboration with Grab is one way we are designing a more seamless travel experience by leveraging the expertise of a super app in the region.”

Starting from next month, GrabFood will begin to feature around 600 restaurants and bars from Marriott’s portfolio across Southeast Asia.

This will be followed in the first quarter of 2021 with the launch of a pilot in Singapore that will enable people to make payments via GrabPay at participating Marriott hotels. And restaurants and bars that already accept GrabPay will soon be able to notify guests in the vicinity of participating hotels about promotions and events through ‘Merchant Discover’.

Marriott will also work with Grab on marketing campaigns that make use of GrabAds’ audience data. And, finally, the pair will link their respective loyalty programmes, expanding the benefits on offer to Marriott Bonvoy and GrabRewards members.

“We are excited to partner with a world-renowned hospitality group like Marriott International that is at the forefront of delivering customer-first hospitality experiences,” said Russell Cohen, Group Managing Director – Operations at Grab. “The breadth of our collaboration reflects our value as a platform of choice in supporting global brands on their digitalisation journey in the new normal, and in particular represents a milestone for our fast-growing GrabAds business.”