REVENUE GENERATION
To combat weak demand by groups and business travelers in 2009, we launched a series of quickly deployed promotions, including the popular “Global Rate Break” and “Deal of the Day” to attract leisure business, and programs such as “Marriott Meetings Matter” to incent meeting planners to book their conferences with us.

We partnered with other travel industry leaders to appeal to politicians to curb the negative rhetoric around group meetings. According to the U.S. Travel Association, group business supports 1 million jobs, providing a powerful stimulus to economic growth. We were especially pleased that the U.S. Congress enacted the Travel Promotion Act in early 2010, which we believe will increase international travel and boost U.S. hotel stays at no cost to taxpayers.

To attract small business meetings, we launched telepresence technology. Now, small groups can connect in separate hotels using high-definition video and real-time audio. Plans call for implementing the technology in up to 25 hotels worldwide through 2011.

Marriott Rewards,^® our award-winning guest loyalty program, offered its more than 32 million members special deals, bonuses and perks, such as No Blackout Dates and Elite Rollover Nights, to solidify their loyalty for our brands.

We refreshed Marriott’s digital front door — Marriott.com — to make it easier for guests to book rooms and manage their Marriott Rewards accounts online. The world’s seventh largest online consumer retail site, based on 2008 online sales, with at least 12 million unique visitors a month, Marriott.com accounts for over 20 percent of Marriott’s gross property-level sales. And now that we’ve made it easy for guests to make reservations on-the-go, they’ve booked $34.6 million in property-level sales using their mobile devices.

We debuted the Marriott News Center on Marriott.com, a social and multimedia hub for news about our brands and initiatives. We offered breaking news and deals on Twitter, where we have more than 38,000 followers.