Originally Posted by
pinniped
In the global scope of hotels, sure, all brands are competing with all other brands to some extent. But I know in my own personal decision-making, the only place I'm ever thinking of IHG and Marriott as head-to-head competitors for any single booking decision is a rural stay - HIX vs. Fairfield Inn.
I'd add IC vs. JW or W if I ran into that scenario more often. I'd certainly add Kimpton to that list if there were more of them.
But IHG lacks a real presence in the mainline business hotel category, which is Marriott's bread and butter. Only way I'm staying in a janky old Holiday Inn or Crowne Plaza on a business trip is if every Marriott, Hyatt, and Hilton within a 30 mile radius is sold out.
So from a loyalty program perspective (as opposed to individual-property perspective), Marriott probably considers their competition Hilton and Hyatt at this point. Regionally Accor, Fairmont, and maybe a couple others. They probably watch to see if Choice, IHG, or Radisson actually do something innovative, but Marriott doesn't need to respond to everything those programs do as they would with their real business-traveler competitors.
Considering that Marriott's Delta brand has basically become a dumping ground for re-flags from IHG's Holiday Inn and Wyndham's Ramada, among other brands, I'd say that maybe Holiday Inn and Delta are comparable since Delta's hotels, at least the renovated and new-build properties, are definitely below Marriott's full-service Marriott, Sheraton, Renaissance and Westin brands.
The only markets in which Choice and Radisson own are the Nordic counties. Marriott has almost no presence in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Those are very difficult markets for full-service hotels because of the high labor costs. There's also an independent brand, Scandic, with a good presence.