Marriott on the Move

This is Bill Marriott, blogging from Beijing, China. This week, we designated our new JW Marriott at China Central Place our 3,000th hotel in the Marriott portfolio. "Chi" is the Chinese word for energy and that describes what has happened in this country of 1.3 billion people since my last visit here in 2004.

I was here in 1979 and then there were nothing on the streets but bicycles. Now, today . . .

There's been a lot of talk recently about the emerging economies in Asia, especially India and China. We have a lot of hotels under development in those markets and hopefully we'll have over 100 hotels in China and India in the next three or four years.

Despite China's rapid economic expansion, however, Japan still remains a powerhouse . . .

My father was born 107 years ago today on September 17, 1900 in Ogden, Utah. I think about him often. He was truly a great leader and a great motivator of people. There was an article in Reader's Digest in the 1940s which said, "Everybody likes to work for Bill Marriott" (that was my father because he was named Bill, too). But I thought a lot about his leadership skills . . .

I don't drink coffee, but I love Starbucks. What a great company and what a great brand. Did you ever imagine that customers would become so passionate about the coffee "experience?"

The proof certainly is in the numbers. Starbucks has . . .

From the time when I was a young boy, my father was always very concerned that I would learn how to work. I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth. Our family had a little bit of money when I was growing up and I didn't need to work, but my father soon fixed that.

So, I did chores around the house and mowed the lawn, swept the driveway, washed the cars and cleaned out the basement. And when it wasn't done right, I was sent back to do it again. I spent a lot of time in that basement trying to get it right.

Grandchildren are coming along now and my children are . . .