Marriott on the Move

I just completed an exciting week in the Middle East visiting Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, which is in Qatar, and Bahrain. We now have 29 hotels here in the Middle East and we have an exciting plan to add 35 more in the next three years.

I met with many owners, developers and political people over here, and I could not believe the tremendous amount of development that's going on. Dubai has the largest amount of construction of any city in the world, as far as I can tell. Thirty-four percent of all the construction cranes in the world are located in Dubai. Everywhere you look, there's a new . . .

In Dubai they say, "If you build it, they will come." The skyline and development in this city is absolutely mind-boggling and the hotel scene is really booming. Dubai is now a top tourist destination and thirty percent of Dubai's GDP comes from travel and tourism. They really get it when it comes to understanding the importance of travel and tourism.

I was in Dubai 35 years ago and it was a sleepy Arab town on the Gulf. I remember meeting with the ruler, who was a wonderful man. His office was very sparse and simple, but I do remember vividly . . .

On this planet, we're all visitors, or guests. I prefer guests because that's what the people who visit our hotels are. I think we get it at Marriott. Green is certainly the new business imperative. Scientists have argued pretty convincingly how climate change is caused by the release of man-made greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere and it's fueled by the burning of fossil fuels. Every one of us produces carbon in our daily lives. But fortunately, there's a lot we can do to minimize our carbon footprint and that's what . . .

After 52 years in the business, one thing I've learned is go south in the winter and north in the summer to visit hotels. One of my favorite places to go, of course, is southern Florida.

In February, we had our board meeting at our Marriott resort in Marco Island, Florida. That property just underwent a huge renovation - almost $200 million worth. Now they have a fantastic spa that features Balinese treatments, they have eight terrific restaurants and brand new swimming pools. The rooms have all been redone, they've got a brand new ballroom . . .

As you know, I love movies. Not long ago, I got to go to a first of its kind movie premiere. This wasn't just any premiere. It was the debut of a trio of short films from Ritz-Carlton and American Express.

Ritz-Carlton rented a theater in an upscale local shopping center here in Washington, D.C. They had girls dressed like the old Phillip Morris girls in their short skirts with boxes of cigarettes, only instead of cigarettes; they had M&M candies, which I thought was pretty neat. We went in and took our seats and were introduced to the films by the . . .

I'm here at the Amazonia exhibit at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. I'm surrounded by the flora and fauna of the rainforest, including a two-toed sloth and some poison arrow frogs.

I'm really excited, so let me jump right into it. Our company and the Brazilian state of Amazonas just signed an agreement to protect 1.4 million acres of endangered Amazon rainforest. We're committing $2 million. The money will fund an environmental management plan administered by the newly created Amazonas Sustainable Foundation. We've been told this is the first partnership of its kind between the public sector and a corporation to prevent deforestation, which we know results in global warming. We hope other companies will follow our lead.

By the end of the year, our guests . . .