Spotlight: Bill Marriott
PARIS: John Willard Marriott Jr. still has a glint in his eye. At 75, an age when most chief executives are enjoying retirement, he wants to beat the competition, keep expanding and provide the best possible service at the hotels that bear his family name.
“I love it,” Marriott said of his job during a recent visit to Paris. “After almost 52 years in the business, I feel like Im beginning to understand it a little bit.”
People warm to Bill Marriott. There was a buzz among staff and guests in the Paris Marriott Hotel Champs Йlysйes, one of the companys smaller luxury properties, as he glided around the lobby. Instantly recognizable from the giant, slightly soft-focus portrait with his father that hangs in all company properties, Marriott was approached by American guests eager to chat.
He leads a globetrotting life, traveling 90 days a year - after Paris, he was off to Shanghai to open another hotel - but a glance at his blog, http://www.blogs.marriott.com, confirms Marriotts folksy roots. Postings range from regulatory issues to anecdotes past and present, burger sauce recipes, updates on staff, and family reflections.
The empire was born in 1927, when Marriotts father, John Willard Sr., and his mother, Alice, drove east from Utah in a Model T Ford to open Hot Shoppe, a root beer stand, in Washington. On May 20, the first guests gathered around a radio to listen to news of Charles Lindberghs historic trans-Atlantic solo flight.
Marriotts father opened the first Marriott hotel 50 years ago, also in Washington. Father and son, who took over as chief executive in 1972, presided over the creation of one of the worlds largest hospitality companies, comprising an expected 3,000 hotels and 151,000 employees in around 70 countries by the end of 2007. In addition to the Marriott brands, Marriott International also includes Ritz-Carlton, Bulgari, Renaissance, Courtyard and Residence Inn hotels. Roughly 80 percent of business is U.S.-derived, but the company is now emphasizing China, India and Europe.
In the first quarter, Marriotts net income nearly tripled, to $182 million from $61 million a year earlier, helped partly by higher rates. Revenue per available room, a key measure of profitability in the hotel business, was up 6.6 percent for the quarter. Sales climbed 7.4 percent to $2.9 billion.
The company did lower its revenue outlook for the year amid weakness in limited-service hotels like Courtyard and Residence. That led some analysts to fear that profit margins might soon drop. But Marriott appears unconcerned: “Were growing about 15 percent a year in terms of earnings and cash flow and we expect to continue to do that” beyond 2007, he said.
Investors, however, seem uneasy. For the year to date, the companys shares are down around 7.5 percent, while Starwood Hotels Resorts Worldwide, a major rival, is up 7.8 percent, and Wyndham Worldwide, the operator of lower-end properties like Ramada and Days Inn, is up 15.3 percent.
“Marriotts quarter confirmed our belief that demand is decelerating and the potential for significant supply increases looms on the horizon,” Steven Kent and Jared Miller, analysts at Goldman Sachs, said in a note to investors at the end of April. “We continue to recommend that investors move away from the group.”
One area where Marriott may be playing catch-up, critics contend, has been the response to market trends. The dominant themes in lodging are now strong brand recognition, comfort, design, multi-use lounges and technology. Boutique hotels, particularly independents like Stein Group, have flourished, while cosy and innovative chains like Starwood, with its W and Aloft brands, are hits with Generation Y, or customers born after 1970.
Did Marriott miss the boat? He doesnt think so. His hotels have been redecorated and given technology upgrades and multi-function common areas. “Were really trying to re-adapt our hotels to take care of all segments,” Marriott said. “We must.”
But Marriott is also known for his conservative taste and is not about to change the habit of a lifetime. In a mischievous swipe at Starwood, Marriott said “supermodern” dйcor was passй. “When you get up in the morning and its all black and gray,” he said, “youre going to have a black-and-gray day.”
What spare time Marriott has is taken up with family - he and his wife, Donna, have four children and 14 grandchildren - and church. The family is active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or the Mormons. “Its been a guiding force in my life,” Marriott said. “Its helped me in the business world.”