Dive Brief:

• Marriott International selected Canary Technologies as the digital tipping provider for its managed and franchised hotels, the hospitality technology provider announced last week in a LinkedIn post. 
• Marriott has more than 8,300 properties across 31 brands globally, though it is unclear how much of its portfolio will be serviced by Canary Technologies. Neither company could be reached for comment on the partnership. 
• According to Canary, digital tipping solutions can help hotels retain staff at a time when labor shortages continue to impact the industry. The partnership comes several months after Wyndham announced it was collaborating with Canary to bring an enterprise solution, including digital tipping, to its portfolio. 

Dive Insight:

With digital tipping, Marriott can “elevate the way [its] hotels invest in staff,” Canary’s LinkedIn post reads. According to a video from Canary accompanying the post, digital tipping can boost staff pay, increase retention and up morale. 

Wyndham CIO Scott Strickland touted similar benefits of digital tipping in July, when he told Hotel Dive the company was working on an enterprise technology solution with Canary that would potentially insert mobile tipping at checkout. 

For the last year, Wyndham has worked with Béné on a cashless tipping solution for its U.S. and Canadian franchisees. The platform increased the monthly frequency of tips per Wyndham property by 14% on average and monthly tips per employee by 45% on average, according to data Béné provided Hotel Dive with in July. 

By increasing pay, digital tipping has become a way for hotels to retain more workers, Canary Technologies Head of Growth Marketing Bryan Michalis previously told Hotel Dive. 

“Making [hotel workers’] compensation more competitive with other industries will absolutely help retention and decreasing turnover,” Michalis said in July, adding that nearly 80% of hotel employees surveyed by Canary said they’d be more likely to stay with their current employer if digital tipping was offered. 

Marriott’s partnership with Canary may be a bid to help the hotel company attract and retain talent. Over the last several months, it has made other efforts to boost its labor pool, including launching a people brand and committing to hiring more than 3,000 refugees globally.