At TravelDaily’s Hotel Marketing Conference this year, Drew Pinto, Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue & Technology Officer at Marriott International, had a conversation with Charlie Li, CEO of TravelDaily.
They discussed localization, digitalization, AI, non-room revenue, and the relationship between people and technology, exploring what will shape the future competitiveness of global hotel groups.
Marriott has been pondering one question: what should global brands preserve, and what should they change?
Drew noted that core brand values and quality should remain consistent, while the delivery of products and services can be adapted to local needs.
Marriott has launched a mobile app tailored to the Chinese market since 2025 and built a local technology and digital team in China. The aim is not to separate China from Marriott's global system, but to empower the local team to innovate within global infrastructure, security standards and technical specifications.
“China speed” was a recurring theme during the talk.
Digitalization is advancing rapidly in China, meaning new technologies and products can be tested there. If proven successful, these innovations and lessons learned could be replicated in other markets.
As AI reshapes hospitality, Marriott maintains that technology will not replace the human touch in hotel services. Drew captured Marriott’s approach to technology in a single phrase: “Human-centered, tech-enabled.”
That is, putting people first and using technology to empower them.
In his view, hotels should adopt technologies that help associates reduce repetitive tasks. Yet time saved by technology should not mean fewer human interactions with guests. Instead, it should allow employees to spend more time serving customers.
This marks one of the biggest differences between hospitality and many other industries.
Drew also noted that a guest’s preference for digital tools versus human interaction can vary widely depending on the travel context.
Therefore, what hotels truly need to build is not a one-size-fits-all approach to AI, but a flexible service system that adapts to different brands, scenarios and guest needs.
