Q3 REVIEW
In a response to a question from an analyst regarding China ’ s stimulus package and its impact , Capuano said that most of the stimulus has not been to the direct benefit of the consumer . “ We ’ re not seeing any sort of immediate and material impact on performance metrics ,” he said , the most interesting bit , he added , being the lack of stimulus support for the property sector , “ which is obviously under quite a bit of duress .” Despite China worries , Capuano said signings and openings in the country remained strong , due , somewhat , to what he called a “ real acceleration ” in select-service brands , which are “ marginally easier to get done from a capital-stack perspective .”
There are glimmers of a China comeback , noted Oberg . “ Looking at Q3 and Q4 at the margin , Greater China RevPAR has been slightly better than we expected a quarter ago ,” she said . “ We are starting to see a slight pickup in cross-border travel into tier-one cities .”
GENERATING EFFICIENCY A major point highlighted during Marriott ’ s call with analysts focused on G & A costs .
Marriott announced an initiative to enhance effectiveness and efficiency across the company with expected resultant savings of $ 80 million to $ 90 million annually beginning in 2025 , with the work delivering cost savings to owners and franchisees . Capuano gave no further color on how it would achieve this other than stating that “ it felt like the right time to look
A Fantastic King room at W New York — Union Square .
The lobby at Hotel Maria Cristina , a Luxury Collection Hotel , in San Sebastian , Spain .
across the enterprise and figure out what adjustments we can make to enhance and improve our efficiency .”
These G & A costs are not confined to the corporate level of Marriott but to its individual hotels and owners . “ We ’ re looking at efficiencies and savings that we think will have clear benefits to the owners ,” Capuano said .” We ’ re looking at every facet of our engagement with them , and we expect to have some tangible saving opportunities identified for them in the very near future .”
Marriott , like its peers , is focused on selling owned real estate , a strategy that allows it to further strengthen itself as an asset-light business that derives revenue through fees . Marriott is ostensibly , if not openly , shopping the W Union Square in New York after its completed renovation , along with its Elegant Hotels portfolio in Barbados , seven hotels it acquired in 2019 . “ We would look to take advantage of what we expect to be very strong performance on the part of that portfolio and that hotel ,” said Oberg . “ Depending on the financing environment and the appetite between buyer and seller , we will take advantage of that .”
Marriott Bonvoy members totaled 219 million members at the end of the quarter .
50 hotelsmag . com Jan / Feb 2025