Delivering the Best “Local Experience” in Destination Marriott Bonvoy Program of Luxury Hotel “Marriott” | The Asahi Shimbun Digital Magazine & (and)
Marriott International (headquartered in Maryland, USA) operates luxury hotels such as Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, and Sheraton in major countries around the world. It is an activity to interact with local people and pay attention to environmental protection during travel. “Travel with Marriott Bonvoy”, a lodging service that allows you to experience creativity, leisure and relaxation by creating opportunities for guests to experience local lifestyle, culture and nature, and actually participate in activities that help solve local problems Slightly different memories, aimed at gaining and increasing satisfaction.
Get up close to elephants, turtles, and mangroves
Marriott International operates “The Ritz-Carlton” in Roppongi, Kyoto and Nago, Okinawa, “Bay Sheraton” in Yokohama and Kobe, and “JW Marriott” in Nara. It is one of the world’s leading hotel chains, operating approximately 8,000 hotels and resorts in 139 countries around the world. There are a lot of fans, mainly wealthy people from the US and Europe.
Beginning in 2019, we will launch Marriott Bonvoy, which includes a variety of perks for frequent guests. As part of the service, we also launched the “Marriott Bonvoy Good Travel” service, allowing you to enjoy the luxury time that can only be experienced in the local area while integrating into the local life of the destination.
Initially, it started at hotels across the United States, including Hawaii and Europe. Even as global tourist numbers have plummeted due to the spread of the novel coronavirus, Marriott is feeling the repercussions of its “Marriott Bonvoy Travel” program, which will expand to some hotels in one of the Asia-Pacific regions from 2021. Due to the positive reviews received by guests, preparations are underway at each base, including coordination with the local community, with a view to fully developing it in the post-corona period.
A program at The Ritz-Carlton, Plai Bay in southern Thailand brings visitors up close to elephant herds living in their natural habitat in a local sanctuary. Le Méridien in the Maldives is preparing a plan to visit the mangroves and get a glimpse of the reality of environmental damage.
Coral regeneration in Okinawa waters, “meditation” at a temple in Kyoto
And from May 2022, “Marriott Bonvoy Travel” will start full operation in about 100 facilities in the Asia-Pacific region including Japan. For example, The Ritz-Carlton Okinawa (Nago City) is preparing a project where visitors can see where coral reefs have bleached and died due to ocean pollution.
After hearing an explanation of the dangers faced by coral reefs in the waters off Okinawa, participants actually entered coral habitats (lagoons) and experienced coral restoration and planting work with local people. If the corals planted at this time are growing successfully, there is also a service that allows you to send photos of the process later.
At The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto, you can attend a “morning ceremony” at Zuihoin (Kyoto City), the burial site of the famous Christian daimyo Sorin Otomo. While enjoying the atmosphere of the Karesansui Garden, you can participate in chanting, meditation, cleaning of the temple held every morning at the temple, and you can also enjoy matcha in the tea room. Part of the participation fee will be donated to Zuihoin to cover maintenance costs, etc. to protect the temple.
In Asia, the Sheraton Kosgoda Hotel in Sri Lanka is also planning to participate in a sea turtle conservation project. The St. Regis Hotel in Lhasa, China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, offers traditional Tibetan Buddhist painting and carving classes taught by local experts. There are also plans for people to plant mangroves in Langkawi, Malaysia, and to help restore temple walls damaged by sandstorms in India.
The “post-corona” boom left in Japan?
Marriott is expanding “Good Travel with Marriott Bonvoy” in the Asia-Pacific region, as the region is a promising travel destination and the market is expected to expand its main clientele, wealthy Americans and Europeans. Marriott already operates approximately 920 hotels and resorts in the Asia Pacific region.
In early June this year, the new Westin Yokohama will open in the Minato Mirai district of Yokohama. This will bring the number of hotels operated by Marriott International in Japan to 70. Plans to participate in Marriott Bonvoy Good Travel have only just been confirmed, but there is growing anticipation of “Japan” as a promising market to welcome travelers “post-COVID-19”.
Bert Buhling, chief sales and marketing officer, Asia Pacific, Marriott International, said, “The travel industry has been recovering from a difficult (difficult) situation caused by the new crown crisis. The new crown virus. Due to the impact of Japan, there are people’s interest in “meaningful travel.” Awareness is growing, and many (Marriott) customers put Japan at the top of their travel list (where they want to go). We want them to experience “what I think is beautiful Japan,” he said.
Click here for an overview of Marriott Bonvoy.
Visit the official Good Travel with Marriott Bonvoy website (English only).
Click here to learn about Marriott International’s business development in Japan.
