Top Boss at Marriott’s Vacation Homes Play Talks Path to Growth: Full Video

25.08.2023 - 13:24 / skift.com / Marriott Bonvoy / Sean Oneill / Selene Brophy / Jennifer Hsieh / Marriott International

Traditional hospitality brands have risen to the disruption challenge of the short-term rental market. One such brand is Marriott International.

Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy, started four years ago by the world’s largest hospitality company, is in a growth phase, having almost doubled the number of homes it has listed and seeing 90 percent of its direct booking demand from its 180 million Bonvoy members. Jennifer Hsieh, vice president for Homes & Villas, shared these insights and the company’s overall approach to loyalty through its alternative accommodation brand at the Skift Short-Term Rental Summit in New York.

Watch the full video of the discussion with Skift senior hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill, as well as read the transcript below.

Sean O’Neill: Jennifer, you are the brightest of the rising star execs at the world’s largest hospitality company, so we’re delighted to have you here.

Jennifer Hsieh: Thank you, Sean. Excited to be here again.

O’Neill: For people in the audience, please ask your questions in the Slido app and we’ll get to them in the last minutes of the presentation today. So Jennifer, when we last met a year ago, you would… So it’s the fourth anniversary of the launch of-

Hsieh: We are four years years old.

O’Neill: … Yeah.

Hsieh: We are officially, I think past toddlerhood and into, probably a tweenville.

O’Neill: Must be feeling good about all the progress today.

Hsieh: It’s great.

O’Neill: Yeah. So it has been, when we met a year ago, you had said you had about 60,000 listings.

Hsieh: Right.

O’Neill: How many do you have now?

Hsieh: We have 115,000 listings on homes and villas.

O’Neill: 115,000, that’s really incredible growth. Congratulations.

Hsieh: Thank you.

O’Neill: And so, about what is your geographic coverage?

Hsieh: We aim to be global. We’re in all over the world. And so in this last year we have entered into Australia and New Zealand. We just recently entered India with a splash. And you’ll see our units in, and homes in Korea as well. And so, we continue to grow.

O’Neill: That’s awesome. I know that your team has put together some data and some consumer trends and stuff, so maybe if we can bring up the slide with that. So, you skew somewhat on the premium, premium is what you’re all about.

Hsieh: Yes.

O’Neill: So we keep that in mind when we’re thinking about this, but what are you seeing in terms of consumer demand trends?

Hsieh: Over the last year, we have really seen demand continue to hold fast. And so, one of the things that I’m cautious about is, a lot of times we’ll read articles and there are averages, and the trick is, there’s a lot hidden in those averages. And so, when we look at demand and performance, we look at it with three defining attributes