Marriott plans to designate more than half of its new hotels in emerging markets where tourism is a major driver of new jobs and economic development. In its recently released 2013 Sustainability Report Update, Marriott noted substantial progress in job creation in underserved and emerging markets.
Two major sustainable development projects include Marriott’s first hotel in Sub-Saharan Africa and the largest in Rwanda. Expected to open in 2014, the hotel marks the start of Marriott’s aggressive growth plans in Sub-Saharan Africa⎯⎯where the company plans to help fuel the Rwandan travel industry and train young women through a partnership with the local Akilah Institute for Women.
In addition, the Marriott Hotel Port-au-Prince in Haiti is expected to open in early 2015 as the first 4-Star hotel in Haiti. The hotel is expected to help boost the local economy by supporting local vendors, supporting hospitality training, and generating more than 200 new hospitality jobs.
“Sustainable hotel development generates opportunity for Marriott in exciting new markets and supports economic development in emerging economies by boosting local tourism, creating new jobs, and supporting local businesses,” says Arne Sorenson, CEO and president of Marriott International. “While we invite our guests to ‘See the World’ through our portfolio of hotels around the globe, we want them to know how Marriott is working toward a more inclusive and sustainable future.”
According to the report, Marriott has reduced water consumption per cubic meter per occupied room by 12 percent and reduced energy by 16.5 percent. The total number of LEED certified, registered, and volume program hotels in Marriott’s portfolio has grown to 115an increase of nearly 20 hotels in 2012. Marriott is also partnering with Conservation International in an initiative to avoid deforestation and erosion and promote sustainable jobs in China’s Sichuan Province.
To promote diversity, the group also has implemented a foundational cross-cultural workshop and Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI)a leadership tool designed to promote diversity awareness by measuring an individual’s or group’s fundamental orientation to cultural differences. Youth interested in hospitality are also supported through programs such as Youth Career Initiative (YCI) and Marriott’s World of Opportunity Europe.
Marriott additionally trains associates in human rights and the protection of children and has helped to secure grants to monitor and combat human trafficking. The funds help survivors of trafficking lead self-sustaining lives through skills learned in the hotel-based YCI hospitality training program. In 2012, YCI’s first graduating class in Mexico City included 11 survivors of trafficking from local shelters.
