Marriott CEO at Skift Global Forum 2024: Video, Transcript

30.09.2024 - 17:45 / skift.com / Anthony Capuano / Sean Oneill / Marriott International

Marriott International president and CEO Anthony Capuano spoke at the Skift Global Forum in New York City about the hotel giant’s strategic growth, including its expansion beyond traditional hotel offerings into areas like luxury yachts and tented lodges.

Much of the discussion focused on the Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program, which Capuano describes as a central growth engine. The company wants to shift Bonvoy from a purely transactional platform to one that offers “unique experiences” beyond hotel stays, such as the chance to attend events like the Emmys or Formula 1. It’s signing partnerships with companies like Starbucks as well to make the program “stickier” and more appealing to younger and less frequent travelers.

The interview also covered Marriott’s technological overhaul and recent deals with MGM Resorts and Sonder.

Watch the full video of Capuano’s interview below.

O’Neill: The theme of Skift Global Forum this year is the potential of a Great Renewal in travel. Or is there going to be a reckoning? And, so we’re asking executives just a couple of big questions to get a sense of what has stayed the same. What changes from the pandemic have stayed the same, and what has gone back to what was before? So I’m wondering are your Marriott customers continuing to set aside a higher percentage of their disposable income on vacations than they were pre-pandemic?

Capuano: Thankfully, we have such great credit card partners in JP Morgan Chase and American Express, and on the long list of benefits of those relationships, we get really rich, real-time consumer spending data. And in a pre-pandemic world, you saw younger consumers shifting spending towards travel and experiences. The pandemic appears to have accelerated that trend across demographics. And so we continue to see that.

And I think with increasing confidence, I believe that to be, a fairly permanent shift. I think the only thing we’ve seen, I mean, certainly in the U.S. and in many other markets around the world, you’ve got this bifurcation of the consumer today. The lower-end, lower-income consumer is feeling some real stress from some of the economic, both micro and macro, trends. But the high-income consumer continues to prioritize travel and experiences. But even that high-end consumer, they’re absolutely traveling. They’re paying premium rates and are booking luxury hotels.

In Q2, we saw just a little bit of a pullback on ancillary spend: food and beverage, spas. It was still ahead year over year, but not quite as much as we had anticipated. And so we’ll watch that over the next couple quarters to see if it was a blip. Or as they’re being a little more judicious in their spending when they’re on the road.

O’Neill: Cool. That sounds like