Marriott on the Move

I was out in Los Angeles recently to check out the progress of the L.A. Live project - a brand new commercial and residential center revitalizing downtown L.A. When it opens in 2010, it will include two of our top brands - a JW Marriott and a Ritz-Carlton. Also, a Ritz-Carlton Residences. It's stunning and I'm betting it will be a great success both for Los Angeles and for Marriott.

I'm glad I was there. Particularly given all the gloomy financial and economic news around these days, it was important to make the point that when we come out of these tough times, we'll be ready. That's not going to happen overnight, but it's going to happen. I'm confident that the actions of the political and financial leaders in Washington and globally are going to help the financial markets tremendously.

But unfortunately, even if the financial markets are calmed, there's been enough impact to . . .

I'm thrilled with President Bush's announcement on Friday that seven new countries will be added to the U.S. government's Visa Waiver Program. The Visa Waiver Program allows travelers from certain qualifying countries, like the UK, Japan and Australia, to visit our country without having to get a visitor visa. The U.S government plans to add South Korea, Czech Republic, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia. It's a great first step to attract more international travelers to visit the United States, which is a key part of stimulating our economy.

In 2007, the U.S. welcomed two million fewer visitors than it did in 2000, despite the weak dollar and the millions more people that are . . .

I recently blogged about our new program with Rosetta Stone that will allow us to train our people in more languages. And in the past I've blogged about our Sed de Saber - "Thirst for Knowledge" - program that has been so successful in teaching English to our Spanish-speaking associates.

Our customers and associates speak countless different languages, and we love the fact that we are able to help our associates communicate better with our guests, with each other, as well, and in their personal lives.

That's why we support the bipartisan bill now in the U.S. Congress called "Strengthening Communities through Education and Integration Act of 2008." This bill . . .

As you all know, fuel prices have been on the rise for many months, and many Americans are feeling the squeeze on their family budgets. However, if any of you tried to make holiday travel plans lately, you know the rising cost of fuel is hitting the airlines hard also.

They've raised ticket prices and added fuel surcharges to cover their costs. Airline fuel expenses usually range from 10-15 percent of their operating costs. But today, that's more than doubled to between 30 and 50 percent of those costs.

Of course, airlines are really strapped. We've already seen small or medium-sized carriers cease operations in the last year. We're hearing . . .

There's a saying in the United States, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Well, our U.S. immigration policy is broken, and I want Congress to fix it and get it done now.

If you've been reading my blog, you know I have pretty strong opinions about immigration policy and they're not always the most popular. I expressed my opinion recently . . .

Today I want to give you an update on an issue I've blogged about. It's the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. This past January, the United States government started implementing new passport regulations. U.S. citizens traveling by air to and from destinations in the western hemisphere, like Canada and Mexico, had to present a valid passport. For those who don't know, here's what happened when it went into effect . . .