Marriott on the Move

When I started in the hotel business 52 years ago, the first impression customers had of our hotels was the lobby when they walked through the front doors. But in this digital age, often the first impression comes when they visit Marriott.com. It's our digital front door.

Today, when you visit the site, you'll notice the front door looks very different. We have rolled out the first stage of our complete overhaul of Marriott.com.

The site is already a huge success story. Last year, Marriott.com generated more than six billion dollars in gross revenue for Marriott. We've done . . .

This month we're celebrating the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Warsaw Marriott hotel in Poland. We opened the hotel back in October of 1989, about the time the Iron Curtain was beginning to fall. It was a milestone property for us because it was our 500th hotel worldwide and also the first Western-managed hotel in the city of Warsaw.

Back when it opened, this hotel was . . .

We have had a lot of great meals in our test kitchen, but one of my favorites took place recently when we hosted Chef Laurent Tourondel for a BLT Burger lunch. Laurent has partnered with us on several restaurants including BLT Steak at the Camelback Inn in Scottsdale and BLT Market at the Ritz-Carlton New York Central Park. He has . . .

In the United States, September is always a month of great expectations. Summer vacations end, children go back to school, the work week goes back into high gear, and the American football season begins. At Marriott, we're using our Global Safety and Security Preparedness Month this September to educate our associates on how to be ready for the next wave of the H1N1 flu pandemic.

All of our Marriott hotels have procedures addressing a variety of health and safety issues, but I thought I'd let you know that we recently updated our flu prevention and pandemic guidelines in direct response to the emergence of the H1N1 virus. These guidelines are based on guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization and have been shared with all our hotels worldwide.

These include common sense hygiene practices that are good to follow whether or not there's a lot of flu going around. Things like frequent and thorough hand washing, good coughing and sneezing etiquette, and avoiding contact with . . .

When most people think about those who stay in hotels, they picture executives traveling to meet with their clients to close a deal or leisure travelers taking vacations at resorts. In our Marriott Hotels and Resorts brand, business travel makes up about 40 percent of our business, leisure travel 20 percent. You might be surprised to learn that the other 40 percent comprise what we call group travelers. They are very important business for us.

These travelers could be a sales team getting together for a seminar or a new product launch. Typically, they not only book a block of rooms, but meeting space, as well as banquets and food and beverage of all sorts and sizes.

Corporate meetings are usually held during the week. On weekends, we are hosting more weddings, family reunions and youth sports groups.

Because of our reputation for service and . . .

In the U.S., we're in the time of year called the "dog days of summer." Some say this is derived from the ancient Romans, who named the brightest star in the Canis Major constellation Sirius, or the "dog star," because during this time of year, Sirius rose and set with the sun in the northern sky. No matter its origin, even as many take a deserved break during these hot days of August, we're not sitting still here at Marriott.

As my father used to say, "Success is never final." It's a good thing to remember, because with all the economic and financial turmoil, and the stock market taking roller-coaster rides in recent months, sometimes it's easy to forget that patience and persistence pay off.

I recently received an inspiring letter from an 83-year-old Washington native, recounting how, back in 1952, she was advised to buy a few shares of our company, which was just going public. Back then it was . . .