Featured Post
Posted: November 20, 2008 11:53:23 AM
It's a very special day for our company, the 25th anniversary of Marriott Rewards, our guest loyalty program. With 30 million members, it's one of the largest hotel loyalty programs in the world. I know many of you are Marriott Rewards members and I thank you very much.
I remember when Marriott Rewards began as a grassroots effort by some of our hotels. They wanted to recognize their most loyal customers. When we first started the program, we had a lot of critics and non-believers, but we were onto something good.
Other hotel companies soon joined us. Back then, the industry loyalty programs were divided by brand. Guests could only redeem points for the same brand where they had been earned. In 1997, we became the first loyalty program to change that, so guests earning points at Courtyard or Fairfield Inn could redeem them for stays at full service Marriott hotels or any other brand in our system.
Now, one out of every two guests that stay with us is a Marriott Rewards member. They consider themselves . . .
Recent Posts
Posted: November 14, 2008 9:58:19 AM
Like many of you, I have been thinking about the historic nature of the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Nearly 130 million Americans came to the polls on November 4th because they were excited about the choice between two very talented and patriotic candidates.
I was impressed on election night when Barack Obama reached out and said, "To those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote but I hear your voices, I need your help and I will be your president, too." He has promised a bi-partisan administration that will unite the country and move us to economic prosperity. I certainly hope and pray that he's very successful.
Most importantly, I salute his historic accomplishment. Never in my lifetime did I imagine that I would see an African-American President of the United States. When my parents . . .
Posted: November 11, 2008 4:17:19 PM
As many of you may know I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Some might conclude given my family's membership in the Mormon Church that our company supported the recent ballot initiative to ban same sex marriage in California. This is simply untrue. Marriott International is a public company headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, and is not controlled by any one individual or family. Neither I, nor the company, contributed to the campaign to pass Proposition 8.
The Bible that I love teaches me about honesty, integrity and unconditional love for all people. But beyond that, I am very careful about separating my personal faith and beliefs from how we run our business.
I am personally motivated to speak now because Marriott was built on the basic principles of respect and inclusion. My father, who . . .
Posted: November 3, 2008 8:03:47 AM
I was out in Los Angeles recently to check out the progress of the L.A. Live project - a brand new commercial and residential center revitalizing downtown L.A. When it opens in 2010, it will include two of our top brands - a JW Marriott and a Ritz-Carlton. Also, a Ritz-Carlton Residences. It's stunning and I'm betting it will be a great success both for Los Angeles and for Marriott.
I'm glad I was there. Particularly given all the gloomy financial and economic news around these days, it was important to make the point that when we come out of these tough times, we'll be ready. That's not going to happen overnight, but it's going to happen. I'm confident that the actions of the political and financial leaders in Washington and globally are going to help the financial markets tremendously.
But unfortunately, even if the financial markets are calmed, there's been enough impact to . . .
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