Marriott on the Move

To kick off Environmental Awareness Month this April, we are participating in an event on Saturday created by the World Wildlife Fund called Earth Hour. At 8:30 p.m. local time on March 28th, many of our hotels and offices around the world will be turning off all their non-essential lights for exactly one hour to conserve energy, raise awareness of the need to address climate change and create global conversation about the environmental future of our planet. The World Wildlife Fund's goal is to unite 1 billion people from 1,000 cities around the world in this great effort.

At Marriott, we take our commitment to protecting and preserving the environment very seriously. I've blogged many times before about what we're doing to become a greener company - reducing our energy consumption, greening our supply chain and ensuring all of our Marriott golf courses become certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuaries. You can read about our strategy on our website or on our new Travel Green Facebook page.

I blogged a few weeks ago about . . .

It's the end of March, so that means I'm taking my annual trip to Scottsdale, Arizona. I've come out here for spring break to our JW Marriott Camelback Inn every year for 41 years to celebrate my birthday and spend time with my family. It's always great to have everybody together, particularly in one place - especially a place with such beautiful weather and scenery.

But, like I do on most of my trips, I will be visiting some of our Marriott properties while I'm in the area. I'll even be attending the grand opening ceremony for our newest Residence Inn in the Scottsdale/Phoenix area. This is a very unique hotel as it actually sits on the campus of the Mayo Clinic hospital and caters to patients and their families, as well as researchers and other medical professionals who are visiting the hospital.

Our Residence Inn brand is perfect for many patients of the Mayo Clinic and their families as these hotels are designed . . .

The very first JW Marriott hotel opened right here in Washington, D.C. way back in 1984. And this year marks our 25th anniversary of the JW Marriott brand. We never envisioned making it a separate brand. We really just wanted to honor my dad who started the company in 1927.

It was a terrific opening. My dad was so touched as he quoted from the old cowboy song, "It's a Long, Long Way Awinding" from his early boyhood days in Utah herding sheep.
He couldn't believe he was standing in such a beautiful hotel that still today remains one of the brand's flagship hotels.

Since this D.C. hotel first opened its doors in February of 1984, the JW Marriott brand has . . .

Not too long ago, I blogged about my stay at the Harbor Beach Marriott Resort in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Over the years I've been coming here, I've formed close relationships with many of the associates who are part of a great team. One of these associates is Robert, one of the resort's drivers. He and I have driven around many times together during our trips down here.

And of course he drives a lot of our guests every day. But recently he had an experience that he will surely never forget. Just before Christmas, he was driving a couple from Denmark to the airport when the man suddenly became very ill. When he temporarily lost consciousness, Robert decided . . .

I've been through eight recessions in my lifetime and, while this one feels deeper and less predictable, I've learned what companies like Marriott need to do to come out strong. Cost cutting is obviously the key to survival today. But the wrong kind of cuts will delay a comeback and erode our competitive position. We need to invest in people, product and service innovation that will reap benefits in the future.

With fewer people checking into our hotels, we've been forced to eliminate some positions. For me, that's the toughest part of the job. I believe sacrifices musts be shared and so I've informed the Marriott Board of Directors that I will decline two thirds of my compensation in 2009. All of our senior executives are seeing significant decreases in their compensation as well.

As we think about strength and vitality going forward, I'm also proud to announce some shifts in our management structure that I believe will put us in the strongest position for the future. Effective May 1 . . .

Today I'm blogging from the great city of New Orleans. I'm here attending a conference we hold every year for General Managers from our Courtyard, SpringHill Suites and Fairfield Inn brands. We held this meeting to promote leadership, teamwork and to drive revenue. When it's over, our GMs will have an advantage over their competition.
They'll learn and share best practices in seminars about how to create sales opportunities in the downturn, improve communications skills that cross generations, as well as reinforce our industry leading corporate culture to General Managers who are new to Marriott.

Hosting corporate meetings is a core business for hotel companies like Marriott. Unfortunately, they have recently been the subject of a lot of criticism in the media and from political leaders in the administration. There is no doubt that times are very tough and many companies, including ours, have had to cut back on travel and to reassess corporate meetings to cut their costs. But the belt tightening that is going on right now is more than just . . .