To all my friends at Marriott International and the meetings and incentives industry, this is a really unfortunate choice and business decision from what was a long time partner and champion of third-party planners.

Here's the rationale: "We understand the value these third parties bring, and they are also important business partners to Marriott. At the same time, Marriott’s group distribution costs are growing faster than our group revenue; these costs are limiting our ability to invest in meeting products, experiences, and innovation. Changing economics in this segment, plus these growing costs, required us to reevaluate our intermediary compensation model. We are introducing a new strategy that will result in a more sustainable way of partnering with intermediaries."

Allow me to cut through the BS and tell you what this really should say:

"Our mounting, astronomical costs from global expansion (most recently the Starwood acquisition) have caused us to lose focus on serving the customer, investing in facilities, meetings products and every other Bill Marriott pillar of success. Since we've grown so big we are going to raise prices drastically for everyone AND not pay partners what we used to pay."

I'm not one to call for boycotts or anything like that. Book Marriott if it makes the best sense for your meeting and incentive event.

They still employ some of the most AMAZING people you'll ever meet. They need our support too. But, when given the choice, Marriott is not always the best game in town and other valued partners can often offer a more competitive option while still maintaining their strong relationship with their third-party planner and travel agency partners who are responsible for bringing so much business through their doors.

Kip Lambert, CIS Chief Culture Officer / Brand Ambassador, Destinations Inc.

www.destinationsinc.com