Marriott's Brand Intangible Asset Strengthening Along With Continued Demand for Travel

While inflation has potential to impact near-term travel demand, we expect Marriott to expand room and revenue share in the hotel industry over the next decade. Our constructive stance is driven by a favorable next-generation traveler position supported by renovated and newer brands, as Marriott has added several new brands since 2007 and renovated a meaningful percentage of core Marriott and Courtyard hotels in the past few year. Also, we see Marriott having an industry-leading loyalty program, with 177 million members (as of fiscal 2022), which incentivizes third-party hotel owners to join the company's brands. Additionally, we believe the acquisition of Starwood (closed in September 2016) has strengthened Marriott's long-term brand advantage, as Starwood's global luxury portfolio complemented Marriott's dominant upper-scale position in North America.