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Marriott CEO calls for new focus on "Travel As Travel"

Jun 27, 06 | 7:58 am

J.W. Marriott, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR) said that the U.S. government should focus more attention on reducing barriers to travel around the world, especially to the U.S., and also promoting the country worldwide as a travel destination.

In remarks accepting a corporate social responsibility award from the Foreign Policy Association in New York last night, Mr. Marriott noted he well understood the imperative of secure borders. “I only have to look back to the moment I watched the stricken Twin Towers reduce our World Trade Center hotel to a hole in the ground to say that with conviction.”

But Mr. Marriott said while the global travel industry has grown about 30 percent over the past 10 years, in part led by “emerging middle classes in China, India and Eastern Europe,” the U.S. share of world travel has shrunk from 9 to 6 percent.

Mr. Marriott said this trend was particularly concerning, given the relative strength of some currencies to the dollar that gives many international visitors more buying power in the U.S. “Oddly, we are one of the few developed countries that does not have a minister of tourism, whose sole responsibility is to draw more people and more travel dollars to our country,” he said.

Noting that Iceland spends more on travel promotion than does the U.S. federal government, Mr. Marriott said the U.S. Department of Commerce will spend less than $10 million this year marketing the U.S., and that Congress has authorized no such funds in 2007.  He said Australia spends $120 million annually in tourism promotion and is now the most desired destination, while the U.S. has fallen to sixth favorite.

U.S. visa policy also needs retooling, said Mr. Marriott.  He said that U.S. regulations require many potential visitors to the country to travel long distances to one of few U.S. consulates and wait for interviews and processing before being granted visas for travel to the United States.

For example, in Brazil, he said, the average waiting time for an interview is 55 days. In 2000, 737,000 Brazilians traveled to the U.S.; last year, only 485,000 came, he noted.  In 2000, Brazilians spent over $2.2 billion in the U.S.; by 2004, that had dropped 40 percent to $1.3 billion.

While security procedures are important, said Mr. Marriott, the current system “is fast becoming a barrier to our travel trade, hurting our economy by keeping more reals, euros and rupees from being spent here.”

Mr. Marriott, said, “Travel is trade, just like when we export a pair of jeans, a jet aircraft or a tractor.” He noted that when a Marriott hotel in Manhattan sells a room to a Brazilian or Indian tourist who sees a show on Broadway or spends Saturday morning shopping on Fifth Avenue, those transactions are U.S. exports.

Barriers to travel not only reduce foreign spending in the U.S., but also erode the country’s welcoming image, asserted Mr. Marriott.

“When we deprive people of the opportunity to see and experience America – we deprive ourselves of new ambassadors for our country, our people, and our way of life,” said Mr. Marriott.  He noted that studies consistently show that visitors to the U.S. have a more positive view of Americans than those who have not traveled to the country. 

Mr. Marriott also voiced concern that the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which requires travelers to use passports or special identification cards, could seriously disrupt travel between the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.  He said the federal government “hasn’t made enough progress in implementing the program or communicating with the traveling public,” even though it begins taking effect next January and is fully in force by January 2008.

A positive image helps to market American brands beyond the U.S., as well, said Mr. Marriott.  Of the nearly 2,800 hotels owned by others and managed or franchised by Marriott, about 400 hotels are outside the United States.  Local investors are “putting hundreds of millions of dollars at stake, banking on the value of an American brand.”  If the U.S. projects a “keep out” image around the world, that engine of growth will stall, he said.

About Marriott:

Marriott International Inc.  is a leading lodging company with nearly 2,800 lodging properties in the United States and 66 other countries and territories.  Marriott International operates and franchises hotels under the Marriott, JW Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Residence Inn, Courtyard, TownePlace Suites, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites and Bulgari brand names; develops and operates vacation ownership resorts under the Marriott Vacation Club International, Horizons, The Ritz-Carlton Club and Grand Residences by Marriott  brands; operates Marriott Executive Apartments; provides furnished corporate housing through its Marriott ExecuStay division; and operates conference centers.  It is ranked as the lodging industry’s most admired company and one of the best places to work for by Fortune® magazine.  The company is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has approximately 143,000 employees at 2005 year-end.  In fiscal year 2005, Marriott International reported sales from continuing operations of $11.6 billion.  For more information or reservations, please visit our web site at www.marriott.com.