16 , May , 2020
Bill Marriott will soon be stepping down from the role as chairman of Marriott’s International board after serving organisation for more than 40 years. Marriott’s CEO, Arne Sorenson on the firm's earnings call held on May 12th, 2020 announced about the upcoming transition in the leadership of the hospitality chain.
The company in consultation with its board of directors, announced that Bill Marriott, (chairman of Marriott International) is planning to transition to the role of Chairman Emeritus in 2022. In anticipation of that event, the company expects that David Marriott, currently President, U.S. Full Service, managed by Marriott, will join the company’s Board of Directors in 2021.
The son of founder J.W. Marriott, Bill Marriott became CEO in 1972 and chairman in 1985. David Marriott, who leads the team is responsible for more than 320 full service managed hotels in the U.S., started in the company as a teenager washing dishes and has built his career in regional operations and sales.
Other announcements includes the retirement of David Grissen, who will step down from his role as head of the Americas next year, and the CEO outlined a restructuring of the company's geographic leadership starting next year.
Liam Brown, who currently oversees the company's Europe, Middle East and Africa division, will become the head of the North America division. All regions outside of North America will be overseen by Craig Smith, who currently leads the Asia Pacific division.
The global hotel company also outlined its financial performance in the first quarter, the period when the coronavirus spread in China and throughout the rest of the world by March. Marriott's Q1 revenue per available room declined 22.5% from the prior year. Its reported $31M of net income was down from $375M in Q1 2019.
