Marriott Turned a Profit During Pandemic

Misbar’s investigation found the claim to be true. According to Marriott.com, their third quarter reported net income was $100 million. This was a surprising profit, but was significantly down from a year ago when the third quarter profit was $387 million. 

According to their website, Arne M. Sorenson, president and chief executive officer of Marriott International, said, “While COVID-19 is still significantly impacting our business, our results for the third quarter showed continued improvement in demand trends around the world. Third quarter occupancy at our hotels in North America reached 37 percent, nearly double occupancy in the second quarter, primarily driven by leisure, drive-to demand, with business and group recovering more slowly. Globally, 94 percent of our hotels are now open and welcoming guests.”

In order to be one of the only hotel chains to turn a profit in the pandemic, Marriott cut costs by almost 60 percent from a year ago. General, administrative, and other expenses for the 2020 third quarter totaled $131 million, compared to $220 million in the year-ago quarter. According to restaurantbusinessonline.com, 673 people were laid off at the Maryland corporate headquarters. Businessinsider.com reported Marriott furloughed tens of thousand employees working at the hotels, the salaries of its CEO and Executive Chairman were suspended for the remainder of 2020, and the salaries of top executives were reduced by 50 percent. 

Through extreme budgeting measures, Marriott hotels did turn a profit during the coronavirus pandemic.