One-On-One: Bill Marriott Marks Opportunity

<B>One-On-One: Bill Marriott Marks Opportunity</B>

<I>Marriott chairman and CEO J.W. "Bill" Marriott Jr. recently spent time talking to </I>BTN's Meetings Today <I>editor Chris Davis about the impact of the Internet, market segmentation and the hotel room of the future.</I>

<B>BTN:</B> How are new tools that supply direct connections between hotels and corporate customers, such as online booking systems and corporate intranets, going to affect customer relationship management?

<B>Bill Marriott:</B> I don't know that there will be a lot of difference. The Internet will offer us the opportunity to communicate faster with our customers and know more about them. It will allow us to offer a wide variety of opportunities. We'll have 2,000 hotels next year and another 1,000 in the next five years.

The Internet offers a wonderful advantage for customers to learn about those hotels. We'll have all our Marriott Rewards information on the Net, so you'll be able to find out how many points you have, redeem them and make reservations. There will be a number of things that will improve the communications, which is what it's all about.

Customers want to make reservations quickly. They want us to give them as much information as they can get. They want to know that we know them, so that when the customers give us their Marriott Rewards numbers, as soon as they plug them in--which they will be able to do sometime next year--we'll be able to know right away who the customers are and what their travel history has been.

<B>BTN:</B> When do you think that direct connections will become the industry standard?

<B>Marriott:</B> In some people's minds, the hotel business is in the process of becoming a commodities business. Our number-one goal is to make sure that does not happen to us. We have to do it through service.

We know that the hotel companies that give the services that their guests are looking for and that excite the guest and fill their needs and do their jobs for them are going to be the hotel companies that succeed in the next millennium. We are totally geared to deliver those things to the guest.

<B>BTN:</B> How is the concept of full account management for your key accounts progressing, and how do you quantify its success?

<B>Marriott:</B> It's doing very, very well. For those key accounts, we quantify the success by how much more of their business we're getting every year. That business is growing very rapidly.

We want to increase the amount of business that we do for our main corporate customers, really taking care of their every need. We've got 12 brands that we can present to them, all the way from Fairfield Inn and ExecuStay up to Ritz-Carlton. We have properties, locations and destinations for every corporate traveler.

<B>BTN:</B> Along the same lines, which Marriott brands do you see as the best fit for different sectors of the corporate travel market?

<B>Marriott:</B> Obviously, for extended stay, Residence Inn is very, very popular with these accounts. Our full-service hotels--Marriott and Renaissance--also are popular; for the top-line executive traveler, Ritz-Carlton.

Courtyard has done extremely well with all accounts. A senior executive wants an overnight stay and not spend much money. Courtyard lets them get in and get out. The rooms are good and quiet, and service is good. So, Courtyard is one of the most preferred brands for the corporate customer.

<B>BTN:</B> Marriott has led the industry with the segmentation concept, and it seems some of the other major chains have been trying to play catch-up. Where do you see the strongest opportunities for growth for the corporate market, including small corporate meetings?

<B>Marriott:</B> For small corporate meetings, Courtyard is continuing to fill meeting space. Through our Event Booking Centers, we book meetings of primarily 15 or fewer around the country across all our brands, and Courtyard is picking up a lot of that business. Renaissance is growing and picking up a lot of that business as well and, of course, Marriott full-service hotels are number one as far as corporate meeting business by hotel chain.

<B>BTN:</B> What do you think the business class room of the future will look like, in terms of amenities, and how long will it take to get there?

<B>Marriott:</B> We're putting high-speed Internet access in more than 500 hotel rooms in the next few months, and that's going to be very important. The rooms have to be user-friendly for the technology traveler of tomorrow. The high-speed Internet access allows you to be on the Internet and on the telephone at the same time.

We'll have large workspaces in our rooms and a large amount of light to read and work by. In SpringHill Suites, for example, we have separate living and sleeping areas. It's a continuing effort to provide today's future travelers with what they need.