The Joint Venture of Alibaba Group and Marriott International announced it is spearheading Marriott International’s facial recognition check-in pilot with Fliggy, Alibaba’s travel service platform. The partnership was first announced last August.

This announcement comes hot off the heels of the joint venture’s recent global roll out of the Post Post Pay (PPP) functionality and redesigned storefront on Fliggy, to continually elevate the travel experience for tech-savvy Chinese travelers.

With Fliggy’s expertise in facial recognition technology and the joint venture’s hospitality insights, the pilot will kick off from July 2018 at two Marriott International properties in China – Hangzhou Marriott Hotel Qianjiangand Sanya Marriott Hotel Dadonghai Bay, with the goal of global rollout across Marriott International’s properties in the future. This move is set to position Marriott International as a pioneer global hospitality company to offer this seamless check-in experience for Chinese travelers.

The traditional hotel check-in process takes at least three minutes and even more during peak times with most of it spent on queuing. With the adoption of facial recognition technology, the check-in process can be completed in less than a minute. Chinese guests simply need to scan their IDs, take a photo and input contact details on a self-help machine. The intelligent device will then dispense room key cards after identities and booking information are verified.

Through strategic findings from the joint venture, facial recognition check-in improves operational efficiencies.

Guests can now access to approximately 6,000 hotels from across Marriott International’s global inventory of 30 brands and choose Li Yu certified hotels, presented in a Chinese traveler-friendly layout. As a firm that seeks to redefine the travel experience for Chinese travelers, the joint venture has also enabled a seamless booking experience by rolling out the Post Post Pay functionality at over 1,000 Marriott International hotels globally; in addition to enabling exclusive members-only rates through the storefront.

Along with digital enhancements, Marriott International has also witnessed significant growth of over two million loyalty members as of June 2018. Enabled by the joint venture, members can now link their Marriott Rewards and Fliggy memberships through status matching, earn points and enjoy benefits from both programs.