Episode summary
How Marriott's CEO Was Appointed During Significant Challenges | At Barron's
At Barron's
· · Hosts: Andy Serwer · Guests: Anthony Capuano
Summary
Marriott CEO Anthony Capuano said global revenue per available room rose a little over 4% in the first quarter, with the U.S. up barely 3% and international markets up about 6%. He said domestic demand has been more modest because consumers pulled back amid tariff and geopolitical uncertainty, while travel appetite has still held up. He also said Canadian inbound travel fell about 5% in the quarter, but that stronger flows from other international markets more than offset it.
Capuano described Marriott’s asset-light model as a mix of managed and franchised hotels, with only 20 of roughly 9,600 hotels owned outright. He said Marriott occasionally buys an asset to revive a brand, citing the W Hotel in Union Square and prior examples in Charlotte and Phoenix, then sells it while keeping the long-term management agreement. He argued that more than 30 brands and the Bonvoy loyalty platform help Marriott capture more of both guests’ travel wallet and developers’ development wallet.
He also discussed China, where Marriott has about 600 operating hotels and more than 400 in the pipeline, and said 2024 and first quarter 2025 were record deal-volume periods for greater China. Looking back on becoming CEO after Arne Sorenson’s death during the pandemic, Capuano called it emotionally devastating but said Bill Marriott’s advice helped him focus on leading through crisis and building a deeper loyalty relationship with members.
Key takeaways
- Capuano said Q1 RevPAR rose a little over 4% globally, but only barely 3% in the U.S. and about 6% internationally.
- He said Marriott’s U.S. business is overwhelmingly domestic, with more than 90% of demand coming from within the country.
- Capuano said Marriott owns only 20 of about 9,600 hotels and uses asset purchases mainly to reposition brands, not to hold properties long term.
- He said Bonvoy is the “connective tissue” of Marriott’s strategy, aiming to keep guests inside the ecosystem across select-service, luxury and home-rental offerings.
- Capuano said China still offers upside because inbound international travel has not recovered to prepandemic levels, even as development activity remains strong.
Notable quotes
“we are seeing relative um more modest demand growth here in the US. Uh but really the quarter was impacted by March”
“our model is is quite simple. We are an asset light model. Today we have approximately 9600 hotels around the world”
“For our guests, our objective is to get as close to 100% of their travel wallet as possible”
“Bonvoy ties that all together. The other thing Bonvoy does is for a new traveler who's maybe just starting their career, gives them the opportunity to explore the full breadth of the portfolio”
“It was um you know, on a personal level, extraordinarily emotional”
How the episode opens
Hello everyone and welcome to At Barrens. I'm Andy Serwart and welcome to our guest Tony Capuano who is the CEO of Marriott. Great to see you Tony. — Thanks for having me. It's great to be here. — So I want to start off by asking you about travel trends, consumers domestically and internationally. Let's start off with the United States. Are we seeing any changes given what's going on in the economy?
Yeah, so it's interesting. We just did Q1 earnings um and we talked a bit about uh trends globally and by region uh on a global basis revenue per available room which is really the most important metric for our industry. We were up a little over 4% but only for the quarter
For the quarter correct. Uh but barely 3% in the US and about 6% internationally. So we are seeing relative um more modest demand growth here in the US.
Uh but really the quarter was impacted by March. So January and February both domestically and internationally we came out like gang busters. I think you saw consumers pull back a little bit because of some of the the pace of uncertainty uh that we saw around tariffs and international relations.
Um but April actually showed some encouraging signs and so there seems to be a view from the consumer that maybe we're in for a little more volatility but that doesn't fundamentally change our appetite for travel
In the US. What's the breakdown between domestic travelers and international travelers coming into the country? — Yeah. So the vast majority more than 90% of our demand in the US is domestic. uh on a global basis about 20 or 21% of our demand is crossborder travel. Uh as you might expect in the quarter we saw Canadian inbound drop about 5% because of some of the complexities in the US Canada relationship but our overall international was actually up because we saw more than what we lost from Canada coming in from other international destinations.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- ceo appointment
- covid-19
- leadership transition
- succession planning
- hotel industry challenges
Companies and tickers mentioned
- MAR
- Marriott International
Watch the episode
Watch “How Marriott's CEO Was Appointed During Significant Challenges | At Barron's” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
More from At Barron's
-
Kai-Fu Lee on How AI Can Help Grow a Company's Earnings -
Rocket CEO: "Homeowners Are Still Waiting to Buy Homes" -
Moderna CEO on the Biotech’s Cancer Vaccine and Pipeline -
Anthony Scaramucci on Katie Zacharia, Trump, and the Midterms | At Barron's -
IMAX CEO on 'The Odyssey,' Chris Nolan, and Company's Sudden Ascent | At Barron's -
PG&E's CEO on Data Centers, Energy Rates, and the Stock | At Barron's
At Barron's, this episode and its artwork belong to At Barron's. Octagon is not affiliated with the show; this page is an independent summary.
