Anthony Capuano travel tips

The battle of budget hotel brands is now a war that extends across the Atlantic Ocean.

Marriott International forecast that its fourth quarter would surpass 2019 in revenue per available room, a a closely watched number, underscoring the resilience of travel spending despite economic worries.

Marriott CEO Anthony Capuano took the stage at Skift Global Forum in September 2022 to discuss what the hotel giant had accomplished in 2022 and where it was headed in the coming year

There’s still something vital missing from the global tourism economy, and that’s the presence of Chinese tourists.

Marriott International said on Wednesday that Stephanie Linnartz, the company’s president and a 25-year veteran, would leave in February to become president and CEO of the clothing brand Under Armour.

Marriott International’s Edition brand, co-created with hotel impresario Ian Schrager, may finally be clicking with developers after a decade-long slow burn. The Tampa Edition that opened in September marked the 15th property in the series. Top executives expect to double that footprint within five years.

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The absence of Chinese tourists as countries around the world opened their borders again remains the most impactful development this year. China’s commitment to zero Covid cases dashed the normalcy return hopes of the global tourism industry.

The top boss of Marriott International used an on-stage interview on Thursday as a platform to call on the U.S. federal government to do more to cut the wait times for interviews for first-time visitor visa applicants, which he said was leading to lost revenue because of reduced U.S. inbound tourism.

Top executives at Marriott International said they believe the pandemic surge in travelers having blended trip purposes of both business and leisure will have a long-term impact on the hotel sector. The growing trend will affect everything from data collection to the types of properties developers want to fund.

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Marriott International CEO Anthony Capuano on Tuesday toured the , the first sailing vessel in The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection. Capuano said in an interview that yacht-style cruises on the 623-foot — which hosts fewer than 300 people at a time — represent an important pillar of growth for the world’s largest hotel operator by pulling the levers of loyalty and luxury.

American embassies are working around the clock to bring down the amount of time international travelers have to wait to get a visitor visa interview in order to travel to the U.S., according to Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Services Julie Stufft. The global median wait time for a B-1 or B-2 visa, also known as a visitor visa, has been reduced from 17 weeks in June to five weeks now. 

Marriott International said on Friday that its chief financial officer, Leeny Oberg, will now also lead the company’s global development organization, responsible for the strategic growth at the world’s largest hotel operator.

Marriott International said on Friday it had received an okay from Mexico’s competition watchdog for its acquisition of the City Express brand portfolio from Hoteles City Express. The news clears the path for the $100 million deal, first announced in October, and which may now close before June.

U.S. visitor visa wait times remain over 400 days on average for first-time visa applicants from top inbound markets, according to the U.S. Travel Association.

Last week three international hotel chains announced the debut of their luxury brands in India. Hilton’s Waldorf Astoria and Minor Hotels’ Anantara brand are set to make their India debut in Jaipur, while Radisson has picked Hyderabad for the launch of itsRadisson Collection brand. Marriott International CEO Anthony Capuano said last week that the hotel group has a lot of room for growth in the luxury segment in India. Speaking at the Hotel Investment Conference — South Asia in Bengaluru last week, Capuano said Marriott is still in the early stages of developing its luxury industry portfolio in India and will continue to concentrate in this area in the future.

Marriott plans to have 250 properties across India by 2025, including hotels that are open and in the pipeline. “We’re in 40 cities today, that should be 50 cities or more by 2025,” said Marriott International CEO Anthony Capuano, adding that this would help create 10,000 new jobs in the country. Capuano, who was visiting India last week, spoke about his meeting with the Indian tourism minister during which they discussed the importance of continuing to tell the story about the rich and diverse set of experiences that the country offers. “And we want to make sure we have lodging options in all of those diverse destinations,” Capuano said. Reiterating Marriott’s “relatively simple” development strategy of providing the right product in every market the travelers want to visit for any type of trips, Capuano said the hotel group would continue to stay focused on India’s “strong and growing” domestic market. However, he did mention that the hotel group is a long way off as far as opportunity for luxury in India is concerned. “I think we’re in our infancy of growing our industry portfolio in luxury. That’s probably an area where we’ll continue to focus on,” Capuano said. True to Capuano’s statements, global hotels brands have been exploring the potential of India’s luxury market with Hilton’s last week announcement of the debut of the Waldorf Astoria brand in India and Radisson announcing the launch of its Radisson Collection in the country. Capuano also went to to talk about India witnessing a strong traction for branded residential properties, which Marriott launched in the country early this year. While 2020 and 2021 were the two most challenging years in the history of the hospitality business, interestingly, these were the two strongest years in the history of Marriott’s branded residential business, said Capuano. “The launch of Homes & Villas, allowed us to keep our customers within the Bonvoy ecosystem and it’s not coincidental that we saw our volume of listings grow more than 20-fold over the two years of the pandemic,” Capuano said. And when asked to choose his favorite India-based hotel brand, Capuano couldn’t resist naming the Taj. “Taj is an iconic brand on a global basis. They have generated some of the world’s most extraordinary leaders who have taken their expertise global,” Capuano said.

Marriott International acknowledged that bank lending challenges in the U.S. might impact the pace of its hotel development in North America. But so far, the banking crisis hasn’t affected its hotel pipeline. The company forecasted that it would sidestep any major problem.

Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt have previewed new extended-stay hotel brands in the past month. The U.S-based hotel groups are wagering that a few factors will power extended-stay hotels for years to come, including U.S. federal infrastructure investment, the resilience of blended travel, and a housing crisis.