Originally Posted by
hockeyinsider
It's something different because it includes Hilton and IHG properties.
I've seen a couple of franchise agreements between Marriott and hotel owners and they give Marriott exclusivity. I'm not sure how a secondary marketing program that includes competing brands gives Marriott exclusivity.
It's one thing if it's a non-branded independent hotel that is also tied in with a Marriott-branded hotel. It's something else when a local program includes competing brands.
Perhaps things work differently in Russia and Marriott had to adjust their contract in order to do business there? Not everything you see in the US/North America applies to the rest of the world!
Some countries may even require foreign companies to have local partners who have majority control (and say on how things are run) in order to do business there.