Anthony Capuano travel tips

Marriott International has announced the launch of its apartment-style accommodations with Marriott Executive Apartments, Navi Mumbai in the western state of Maharashtra. This is the brand’s second such serviced apartments with upscale residential extended-stay units in the city after Lakeside Chalet. Located within 45 minutes from the Mumbai airport, the 129 modern apartments include standard rooms, studios, junior suites, one-bedroom apartments and a presidential suite. “We are pleased to announce the opening of our second Marriott Executive Apartments in Mumbai, catering to the new segment of ‘bleisure’ travelers looking to mix business and leisure travel by creating a ‘home from home’ feeling for their longer stays,” said Ranju Alex, area vice president of South Asia at Marriott International. Marriott International CEO Anthony Capuano, who visited India last month, said the country is witnessing strong traction for branded residential properties. Earlier this year, Marriott International launched its Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy — a curated collection of home rentals — in the country for which the brand is in talks with professional management companies and is looking to launch about 500 units in 2023. “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, adding that 2020 and 2021 were the two strongest years in the history of Marriott’s branded residential business.

Hilton Worldwide announced on Tuesday that it’s opening an extended-stay brand as part as its efforts to make inroads in the booming sector. The new brand, which has been assigned the working title Project H3, will be the twentieth in the company’s portfolio.

Anthony Capuano took the helm of Marriott International in early 2021 in what was in some ways a battlefield promotion, following the tragic death of the company’s president and CEO Arne Sorensen. After navigating the tumultuous post-pandemic era, Capuano finally has time to pause and fine-tune strategy at the world’s largest hotelier.

The sold-out Skift Short-Term Rental Summit brought nearly 300 attendees to New York City this week to discuss the current state and the future of the industry. What was the best part? Hard to choose, honestly. As one attendee wrote on LinkedIn, “There were SO many great presentations and discussions at the Skift Short-Term Rental Summit in NYC yesterday.” You can watch all the sessions at on our event site here, and choose for yourself.

Marriott International has signed a licensing deal with MGM Resorts to let Marriott Bonvoy loyalty members earn points when staying at 17 MGM resorts, starting in October. Bookings at 40,000 of MGM’s rooms mainly in Las Vegas will be available through Marriott’s site and app by year-end.

Although Skift reported in its recently released State of Travel 2023 report that international travel in most global regions still trails 2019 levels, there is gradual progress. International travel has been boosted in recent years in part by a significant increase in destinations providing visitors visa-free access.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, August 2. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

U.S. tourism businesses surged after the pandemic. Now they’re giving back some of those gains as Americans have been traveling abroad. Skift spoke to several tourism companies and operators to assess domestic demand. It’s not a collapse, they say – but a clear softening.