Skift Take
Marriott is a giant in the hotel world. Moving forward, CEO Anthony Capuano wants to see more attention placed on selling experiences and offering rewards to guests.
Josh Corder
Marriott says its loyalty program Bonvoy crossed 210 million members this August but for group CEO and president Anthony Capuano, the platform is just getting started. Capuano sees Bonvoy as moving away from a “transactional system” towards more of an “emotional” one, where members use Bonvoy for room upgrades, free cups of coffee, and even walks down the red carpet at the Emmys.
Capuano said the future of Marriott is in the evolution of Bonvoy, which is the group’s “umbrella brand” and – soon – a one-stop-shop for all things travel.
“We want to do everything we can strategically to keep our customers and our members in our ecosystem,” said Capuano, who was speaking at the Skift Global Forum Wednesday. “How do we do that? We make sure we have the right product everywhere they want to go, for every trip focus.”
Marriott’s network spans almost 9,000 hotels and 30 hotel brands, from a Courtyard by Marriott up to a JW or Ritz-Carlton. The group also has vacation homes and more recently, luxury yachts.
Using Bonvoy, Capuano sees the world’s largest hotelier moving beyond just selling rooms.
“…Experiences, whether it’s the F1 race in Las Vegas, our partnership with the NFL; I was at the Emmys on Sunday night and we had a number of Marriott Bonvoy members with us able to walk down the red carpet,” he said.
“Those [experiences] are a good indication of where we want to take the loyalty platform. Most big travel companies when starting loyalty programs, focused on a very transactional approach, intended for earning and redeeming points. While this remains a critical pillar, I hope we will grow the program and offer unique experiences that will evolve our relationship with members from a purely transactional one to a more emotional relationship.”
As Easy as Amazon
Like many hotel groups, Marriott is currently in the process of overhauling its digital systems. Loyalty, property management and reservation systems are all being updated, a necessary investment to make booking direct as convenient as buying something on Amazon.
Capuano explained: “For central reservations, think about the long list of products and services we want to make available to our guests. Food and beverage, spas, residential, experiences. All of those things on today’s platforms take a bit of searching. The consumer today is much more sophisticated, our friends at Amazon have done a terrific job of training them [customers], they are accustomed to going to a shop, selecting from multiple categories and putting it in one basket.”
“This new reservation platform will allow the consumer to do exactly that.”
Asked what is the largest untapped opportunity for Bonvoy to drive growth, Capuano said: “Just recognizing that Bonvoy is our umbrella brand. It is a really powerful platform to allow us to expose [to] travelers who are in a wide variety in their traveling lives. Getting those members active, getting that second, third and fourth stay is important.”
Brand Extensions
Talking about other ways the lodging giant is expanding beyond just building more hotels, Capuano said Marriott’s luxury brands present a strong opportunity to launch new verticals. Ritz-Carlton yachting division began two years ago, a venture that has proven popular with guests, said Capuano.
“Luxury consumers are so focused on travel and experiences, luxury is a great platform to develop brand extensions. The first [Ritz-Carlton] yacht has been in the water for two years, the newest yacht just went on its maiden voyage in Europe.”
“Some early statistics show that the average age of our passengers is 10% younger than the industry average at large. 50% have never been on a cruise or luxury yacht before, and 75% are Bonvoy members.”
