Marriott International Underscores Its Focus In Driving Innovation In Design with Sponsorship of Business of Design Week 2018

Partnership shares vision to integrate design thinking
into business and societal processes

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HONG KONG, CHINA - Media OutReach - November 29, 2018 – Marriott International today announced its
sponsorship of Asia’s leading international event on design, brands and
innovation, Business of Design Week (BODW). Each year, BODW brings to Hong Kong
some of the world’s most celebrated design masters, brand leaders and business
figures across a variety of fields to inspire both international and Hong Kong
audiences on the merits of good design. Marriott International’s approach to
design fits well with the goals of BODW, focusing on how cutting-edge,
best-in-class design can add value and improve overall business outcomes.

 

The St. Regis Hong Kong sees acclaimed designer André Fu’s vision of a “Curated Mansion”, blending the brand’s timeless elegance with the silhouettes of Hong Kong’s architectural and cultural diversity.

Designed by AB Concept, W Xi’an reinterprets rich historical, social and physical contexts in Xi’an through the lens of the W brand.

Hong Kong Ocean Park Marriott Hotel underscores its commitment to a sustainable future with energy-saving design features that complement Marriott Modern interiors.

“BODW is Asia’s
leading annual event on design, innovation and brands, committed to
facilitating cultural exchange and driving innovations in the community, while
Marriott International prides itself on leveraging the best thinkers in design
to create the ultimate hotel experiences for our guests,” said Michael Wang,
Senior Continent Head, Global Design, Asia Pacific. “We see that we have a
mutual vision to instill the concept of design thinking into the heart of any
business operation and bring creative design processes into mainstream business
methodologies. As such, we see a great opportunity through this sponsorship to showcase
how Marriott International approaches design by retaining individuality and
continuing to push the boundary of creativity while developing functional hotel
design strategies.”

 

Marriott
International has long been recognized for its industry-leading and innovative
forward-thinking design for its more than 30 distinctive brands across the
world. As part of the conference, Michael Wang will be speaking at the
“Reinvigorating Brands and Design” session at the Brand Asia Forum on Wednesday
December 5 at this year’s BODW event. Key topics he will cover include: how
having the right strategy is key to driving innovation across multiple brands
at scale whilst adding more value to hotel owners; and how technology and data
have become critical to the design process. Trends are of paramount importance
to the business of design in hospitality so he will also give his insights into
some of the trends that are shaping the hotel experience of tomorrow.

 

The partnership
comes hot off the heels of Marriott International’s announcement that it is
collaborating with Cornell University to offer e-learning courses to aspiring
young designers. The Marriott Global Design Certificate Program, which will
provide teaching on best practices in developing innovative design strategies
to build hotels that appeal to a number of different consumer segments, aims to
bring more talent into the hotel design community and provide a platform for
them to develop and nurture their skills in a business and investment context.

 

Professor Eric
Yim, JP, Chairman, Hong Kong Design Centre, which organizes BODW said, “The
movement for people, user, citizen-centered innovation in design is on and we
need as many organizations as possible to collaborate with us in making this
movement a true force in the years to come. As such, we see our collaboration
with Marriott International as a great step in helping us further advance our
efforts to promote good design and cultivate design thinking across sectors,
industries, professions and age groups. Marriott International speaks our
design language and we’re sure our delegates will welcome this addition to our
stellar speaker lineup this year.”

 

Marriott International has a number of recent and upcoming openings
across Asia Pacific that showcase its approach to designing hotels that cater
to the evolving needs of today’s travelers. These include: Hong Kong Ocean
Park Marriott Hotel, which underscores its commitment to a sustainable
future with energy-saving design features that complement modern interiors; the
highly anticipated St. Regis Hong Kong, which is scheduled to open in
Spring 2019, sees the vision of a “Curated Mansion” by celebrated designer
André Fu who blends the timeless elegance of the brand to the silhouettes of
Hong Kong’s architectural and cultural diversity; the W Xi’an by
acclaimed interior design firm, AB Concept, reinterprets rich historical,
social and physical contexts in Xi’an through the lens of the W brand,
featuring five intricate labyrinths that represent the five ancient dynasties of
Xi’an; RYSE, an Autograph Collection Hotel, in Seoul — conceived
and designed by globally renowned Michaelis Boyd, is a creative space for
inspiration and indulgence; its interiors collide energetically: where bare
concrete and industrial brass metal meet glossy pink flooring and modern art
installations reign. In
addition, the Fairfield by Marriott brand is expecting to open 15 hotels
at undiscovered locations across five prefectures in Japan, with the first crop
of 12 slated to open by 2020. The design process of these hotels reinforces how
sustainability can be incorporated into the design features of the property:
the entire hotel is prefabricated in a factory and ensembled on-site, not only
to ensure high standards, but also to conserve resources by reducing
construction time.

About Marriott International, Inc.
Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) is based in Bethesda, Maryland, USA,
and encompasses a portfolio of more than 6,700 properties in 30 leading hotel
brands spanning 130 countries and territories. Marriott operates and franchises
hotels and licenses vacation ownership resorts all around the world. The
company also operates award-winning loyalty programs: Marriott Rewards®, which
includes The Ritz-Carlton Rewards®, and Starwood Preferred Guest®. For more
information, please visit our website at www.marriott.com, and for the latest
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