Business Strategy and Outlook
| Dan Wasiolek |While COVID-19 and inflation have potential to impact near-term travel demand in many regions of the world, 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 over 160 million members (as of the end of 2021), 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.