Marriott on the Move

On Sunday, November 8, my dear friend Harry Vincent passed away at the age of 90. I first met Harry in the 1960's when he was the Washington vice president of the consulting firm of Booz Allen Hamilton. He was doing work for our company and subsequently joined our Board of Directors and served faithfully for over 34 years.

When we split our company, he moved over to the Host Hotel Board of Directors. Host was the company that retained the ownership of the Marriott Hotels we owned before the split and is now . . .

When I started in the hotel business 52 years ago, the first impression customers had of our hotels was the lobby when they walked through the front doors. But in this digital age, often the first impression comes when they visit Marriott.com. It's our digital front door.

Today, when you visit the site, you'll notice the front door looks very different. We have rolled out the first stage of our complete overhaul of Marriott.com.

The site is already a huge success story. Last year, Marriott.com generated more than six billion dollars in gross revenue for Marriott. We've done . . .

I recently read a book about General George Custer, famous for being annihilated in Custer's Last Stand at the Battle of Little Bighorn before the turn of the 19th century. Custer was a somewhat impetuous, but brilliant, officer. At the age of 23, he was made a Brigadier General in the United States Army and was an important contributor to the Union victory at . . .