Skift Take
Here's the former Starwood CEO's take on what's happening in the hospitality industry now, and why brands need to work harder than ever to be more agile and flexible in dealing with disruption. Oh, and he thinks the Marriott-Starwood deal could have been better for shareholders and employees.
It's been 18 months since former Starwood CEO Frits van Paasschen left Starwood Hotels & Resorts, and a lot has happened since.
Today, Starwood as we knew it for the last two decades no longer exists. As of September 23, van Paasschen's former company is now owned by its rival, Marriott International, who bought it for $13 billion.
So when van Paasschen walked onto the stage of the Skift Global Forum in New York City Wednesday, the same one where Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson spoke just the day before, many in the audience were surprised to see him, and no doubt wondering what he's been up to since leaving Starwood. It was his first public appearance since leaving Starwood.
More importantly, they also wanted to know: What did he think of the Marriott deal?
Well, here's what he had to say about that:
"I think not everybody would know that I thought this, but I thought that consolidation in the hotel industry was inevitable," he said. "For a few reasons. If your competitive set now includes Airbnb and the OTAs [online travel agencies like Expedia and Booking.com], and in Starwood's case, being the fourth largest hotel company with an admittedly great group of hotel brands and a high-end portfolio of upscale brands around the globe, you're just not in the most defensible position.
"If you want to consolidate, you want to do that when your relative value is greater. Prior to 2014, the dollar was weaker and emerging markets were still ascending, that would have been a much better op
