Skift Take
Despite the challenges facing the industry, Sorenson remains optimistic and determined to make sure Marriott's $13.3 billion bet on loyalty pays off.
Arne Sorenson is not the kind of hotel CEO who likes to stay quiet about the most pressing issues impacting not only the hotel business, but travel overall.
Most recently, the Marriott International CEO penned a piece urging governments to implement smarter ways to deal with safety and security in travel. And before that, he also wrote an open letter to then President-Elect Trump.
Skift spoke to Sorenson while he attended the New York University Hospitality Industry Investment conference in New York on June 5 to ask him for his thoughts on the industry. What follows also includes excerpts from his conversation on stage with ABC News correspondent Rebecca Jarvis at the same conference.
Skift Editor's Note: Sorenson's quotes have been edited for clarity and length.
The Current Climate
"I think one of the challenges we've got today is when we look at the events in London or we look at the travel ban tweets this morning, or we look at some attributes of the world we live in, it could feel a little negative," Sorenson said. "I actually think we've got to be careful about that because we've got significantly growing global travel. We've got [this], both in domestic travel in the United States and maybe in the markets surrounding it, and because of this move toward wanting experiences — including travel — because of this move of a growing mobile middle class, there is a lot about the future which is really positive."
"The best thing we can do for laptops is if, in the entire world, we've got TSA-like security where people are looking at your bags, or going through every item, and it can be a burden in some airports and some countries, but it's a burden that applies to everyone, and by and large it means that we've all as travelers learned to just put up with it," he noted. "I think, similarly, in the laptop space, or other spaces around technology, the more these can be decisions that are made with other countries involved, I think the less unique impact it would have on the United States. So, if there was a laptop ban for inbound U.S. business only, it would simply be yet another reason why somebody might not continue to come to the United States. And that's where it starts to have the possibility of hurting us."
Investing in Experiences
Earlier this year, Marriott announced its investment in PlacePass, a tours-and-activities metasearch platform, and it's clear that Marriott, like its peers, is seeing the increasing importance of playing a bi
