The things that have been said by the CEOs in the hotel industry doesn’t make anyone very excited about the direction things are headed. Hilton’s CEO has made it clear that coronavirus related service cuts are largely permanent, as hotels will become higher margin. The CEO of a hotel investment firm has stated that he wants guests to tip more if they want decent service, rather than raise wages.
Marriott Bonvoy isn’t great, and that’s fine
There’s no denying that since Marriott took over Starwood, there has been a lot of frustration among former Starwood Preferred Guest loyalists, given what a superior loyalty program it was. Over five years into the merger, how does Capuano feel that Bonvoy is doing?
“I think we’ve made terrific progress. The integration of Marriott Rewards and SPG was a monumental task. And it’s quite interesting. You hear SPG loyalists say, ‘my goodness, what have you done to our program?’ The program was very guest-friendly. It was less owner-friendly. What some of those SPG loyalists may have lost, a bit, in terms of the richness of the program, we hope that breadth of choice, whether it be brands or geography, is a bit of a mitigating factor.”
Furthermore, as Capuano sees it:…
