The hospitality industry has suffered as tourism has dried up during the pandemic, but as the distribution of the Covid vaccine progresses, Marriott CEO Tony Capuano hopes his business will recover.
“As the vaccine is widely distributed, we see fairly strong and steady growth prospects for demand,” Capuano told CNBC’s Seema Mody in an interview Wednesday.
Capuano was recently appointed CEO of the hotel chain, following the death of its former leader Arne Sorenson on 15 February. Sorenson had been battling pancreatic cancer.
Sixty percent of Marriott bookings in 2019 were from business travelers. As there are now more companies adapting to remote jobs, some industry observers are concerned about the trend that will affect the hotel industry forever, but not Capuano.
Marriott customers have told the company they are “looking forward to going out and being face to face with their business partners and customers,” Capuano said. However, leisure travel will likely lead to recovery, he said.
Marriott is the largest hotel with 1.4 million rooms worldwide.
Global markets such as China are already experiencing some upswing as the country quickly adapted to contain the virus and administer vaccines, he said.
Marriott shares are up more than 3% on Wednesday. The shares, which have a market value of $ 50.116 billion, have gained nearly 15% over the past year.