Marriott Fills Key Spot

Marriott Fills Key Spot

Marriott International has a new executive vice president for sales and marketing--with a familiar name. John W. Marriott III last month was named to the position that includes responsibility for corporate sales. In that capacity, he replaces Richard Hanks, who has left the company.

"The corporate buyer remains our biggest customer and the key to our long-term success," said Marriott, 39. "I'm happy to work with travel managers to see how we can best deliver our product to them." That includes taking a proactive, leadership role on issues such as last room availability, rate loading and single image inventory.

The Marriott product is in good shape today, according to Marriott, who was most recently the company's senior vice president for the Midatlantic Region. "We've developed our expertise at branding over the past 20 years, starting when we came up with the idea for Courtyard. The brands in our portfolio today are positioned to provide a product at most every price point," he said. "The strategy has been--and will continue to be--to capture as much of our clients' business as possible."

As for the possibility of new brands being added down the road, Marriott said that is unlikely at present. Yet opportunities do come along. The acquisition of Renaissance Hotels & Resorts in 1997, for example, has turned into an "exciting success," he said.

Marriott's career has included stints at both the corporate and property levels. In sales, he cut his teeth as sales manager of the Boston Copley Marriott. He worked his way up the ranks of the family business, starting at age 15 when he was a dishwasher in a Marriott hotel in Washington, D.C. Last week marked the end of an era in the family business with the passing of Alice Sheets Marriott, co-founder of the company, at age 92.

Looking to the future, he sees companies like Marriott managing the whole travel experience, from "before travelers book the room and continuing until after they return home." A key enabler in that effort will be marriott.com. Marriott realizes that at present corporate travelers can't book rooms at the negotiated rate on hotel Web sites, but given the pace of technological change, he expects that obstacle will be resolved in time.

At the same time, direct links between Marriott and client companies' intranet sites are starting to be developed. Last year, marriott.com was responsible for 2 percent of reservations chainwide. "While that's a small number, it represents a 100 percent increase over the prior year," he said.

After 24 years in the business, Marriott said he is thrilled with this latest career opportunity. "It's a business of relationship building," he said, "and I count the relationship with the travel management community as among the most important for me.