The author Jules Verne wrote the novel Around the World in 80 Days. You may have read it, but I'm sure you've seen the movie version with David Niven. I've seen it a couple of times, I thought it was terrific, and I'm a big film buff.
The number 80 is a big one for our company this year as we're celebrating our 80th anniversary this week. My mother and father came East in a Model T Ford in 1927 from Utah to open a root beer stand. Since then, our company has gone around the world. We weren't quite as fast as Verne's character, Phileas Fogg.
In 1975, when we were celebrating our 48th anniversary, we opened the first Marriott hotel in Europe - it was in Amsterdam. And we were the first Western managed hotel to open in Warsaw, Poland after the fall of communism - that was 1989. That was our 500th hotel, and that same year, we also expanded our first hotel in Asia with the new JW Marriott in Hong Kong.
The pace of our international growth has really picked up. A year later, in 1990, we opened resorts in Cancun and Puerto Vallarta, and two years after that in Australia. Did you know we have hotels in Kazakhstan? Today we have almost 500 hotels outside the United States and we're still growing.
I'm a lucky guy. I get to travel the world to visit these hotels and check out what the competition is doing also.
In our business, each lodging company has what we call a "development pipeline" and ours is very strong. We have over 100,000 rooms in our pipeline. In some cases, hotels will be built from the ground up, some existing hotels will convert to one of our brands. A growing percentage of these hotels will open outside the United States, particularly in China, India, and the Middle East.
So, it seems only fitting to celebrate our 80th anniversary with the grand opening of the Paris Marriott Rive Gauche hotel, our sixth hotel in the City of Light. Rive Gauche used to fly the flag of another brand and is undergoing a big renovation. The European economy is growing and being stronger, so our hotels in cities like Paris are busy with business and leisure travelers.
I'm Bill Marriott and thanks for helping me keep Marriott on the move.
Congratulations to Marriott Famly!
We always try to stay in Marriott Hotels,from the day when I found 50% off coupon in woman's magazine for stay in Washington DC Marriott.We were very young then,just married, and staying in fancy hotel was very big deal.We loved that stay and all other ones since than.
Keep up good work!!!
Posted by: Mrs.N.von Bogen | 07/11/2007 at 11:37 PM
Dear Mr. Marriott,
I have been staying at Marriott properties for more years than I want to think about. From around the corner (in Houston), all the way to Beijing, Bangkok, Seoul, or Sydney, your quality has shown forth as a beacon to be enjoyed. As schmaltzy as that sounds, I mean every word. Consistency is one of your biggest trademarks; second only to the friendliness and complete professionalism of your people. Thank you for setting the standard so high.
Posted by: R Bob Adams | 07/11/2007 at 09:42 AM
Dear Mr. Marriott, your blog was very enjoying to read. I am long time platinum member and I make it a point to stay in one of your property when I travel on business to US. I got very excited to see Courtyard Marriott opened in my own city Chennai India about two years back. I wish you a very best luck for your international operations.
Posted by: Sandeep Naik | 07/10/2007 at 11:26 PM
Bill I used to live across the street from a DC fighter named Nattie Brown. He used to tell me stories of the times he fought Joe Lewis and the celebration at the Marriott Hotel with your father, his agent and manager. He related that your father was present when after the last fight with Lewis he made a business decision to invest in Mackie Corp with your father as a witness, unfortunatly he had been hit by Lewis so hard he didn't remember anything from that night and the next 90 days.
Fortunatly that decision was a good one and many years later when he was broke the rewards for that investment came through and he got to again stay at the Marriott Hotels.
Posted by: Doug Hunt | 06/26/2007 at 11:10 AM
please open a hotel in south africa.
Posted by: janique | 06/26/2007 at 02:08 AM
Dear Mr. Marriott,
We just found your blog tonight and have thoroughly enjoyed reading it. We are long time platinum members and we love Marriott! We go out of our way to stay at your properties and are so disappointed when we travel to an area where there is not a Marriott property available. We have our favorites across the country and try to re-visit for leisure when not traveling for business. Thank you for the excellence we can consistently count on. At the end of the day, it is nice to feel at home while away from home. Please keep Marriott on the move. The changes have all been great and we look forward to the furture with you.
Posted by: John and Diane Nelson | 06/18/2007 at 02:42 PM
Congratulations! Marriott's anniversary is the same week as ours, except ours is only 31 years!
You have been doing a wonderful job and we are proud to say that we visit a lot of Marriotts and Marriott brands. My husband enjoyed reading your book which was in the bedside table on one of our trips years ago. Keep up the good work.
Posted by: Cath | 06/04/2007 at 03:12 PM
Dear Bill,
Congratulations on the tremendous success that Marriott has had! Regarding the future, I foresee a lot of changes in the nature of the guest experience at the 4-star and 5-star level, particularly for large hotel groups, such as Marriott. If you have time, perhaps some of the ideas may be of interest to you and useful for your plans for Marriott's future. They can be found in today's www.ehotelier.com Newsletter:
http://ehotelier.com/browse/news_more.php?id=A11173_0_11_0_M
I wish you well!
My warmest regards,
Peter
Posted by: Peter McAlpine | 05/29/2007 at 08:27 PM
Dear Mr. Marriott - Congratulations and continued success for the 80 years of quality and excellence which no other hotelier can tout - We recently returned from another month's stay in Europe and the UK with ONLY Marriott properties and we would like to convey "very special thanks" to two people who made our stays in two separate properties a fantastic experience for this our 30th wedding anniversary - They are: Mr. Bob *******, Breadsall Priory and Ms. Theresa ***, Renaissance Chancery Court. It is this managerial quality which has caused us many times to return to the same property - particularly in the case of Breadsall.
Once again our very sincere congratulations!!!!
Posted by: Edward & Barbara Garabedian | 05/29/2007 at 06:02 AM
Congratution! its so awesome to hear all this. hopefully,one day there will be J.W Marriott Kathmandu,Nepal.
Posted by: sunil | 05/24/2007 at 09:51 PM
Bill... for 22 years since 1985 I have been with your family as a guest. I will always make Marriott my 1st and only choice for traveling hospitality. That is a promise you can count on.
Posted by: Keith A. Ridley IV | 05/24/2007 at 04:51 AM
I wish you all beautiful success.
So, in the next 80 years(and hopefully sooner, please please please open a hotel in Guadalajara, Jalisco Mexico. Between 4 million and 7 million people live in the area. It is Mexico's second largest city and major convention city!
Posted by: Eric Nieman | 05/24/2007 at 02:26 AM