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Think Global with David Thomas

Root Beer

Published 6 days ago • 1 min read

Marriott turns 100 next year. Asia should be taking notes.

In Washington this month I stayed at the Marriott Hotel in Bethesda. It sits right next to the company's global headquarters, a tower of more than 20 storeys. I found myself wondering how a company ends up with a building like that. So I started reading.

It started in 1927 as a root beer stand on 14th Street. Nine seats. J. Willard and Alice Marriott, newlyweds from Utah. When winter came and nobody wanted a cold drink, they added hot food and called it the Hot Shoppe.

In June, Marriott opened its 10,000th hotel. In India.

Three generations on, their grandson David chairs the board, and the founder's rule still steers the company. It's printed on their website: 'take care of your associates and they'll take care of the guests'.

Between the root beer and the 10,000th hotel came a Depression, a world war, 17 presidents, 9/11, the GFC, a pandemic and more political turmoil than most countries could cope with. The business kept building. So did thousands of others. Matthew Syed made the case in The Sunday Times this weekend that American enterprise keeps climbing whatever Washington does, driven by a willingness to 'go bust at 30 and try again at 31'. I agree with him on that.

Asia has what America had in 1927. A young population, and plenty of optimism. The median Filipino is 27. The median American is nearly 40.

It has no shortage of founders either. And Asia isn't westernising. It's modernising. What it can take from the Marriotts is the part that endures. Values strong enough to outlive the founder, and a business that keeps building whoever is in government.

Somewhere in Cebu or Ho Chi Minh City, the next Marriott is running a BBQ stall.

PS. More from the corridor at davidthomas.asia

Think Global with David Thomas

I empower business leaders, entrepreneurs and investors to successfully invest, raise capital and/or do business in the Asia Pacific region. Subscribe to my newsletter to receive my regular updates, insights and commentary on what's happening in Asia and why it matters

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