Guests staying at the New York Marriott Marquis October 16 had to be curious about the 13 intricate booths staged on the property’s Terrace meeting space. Even though the event was invite-only, they couldn’t help but spy the magnificent displays when riding up and down the glass elevators that provided a bird’s-eye view of the space perched in the hotel’s expansive atrium.
Marriott’s Elite Experience Suite pop-up event brought in meeting and event planners as well as media to explore the winning dioramas from 13 properties in the Marriott Convention & Resort Network (CRN)—the global hotel giant’s collection of nearly 130 large hotels specializing in meetings and conventions—that provided a glimpse into the authentic destination experiences available both for groups and leisure travelers at the properties.
The goal was to present bespoke activations that encompass wellness rituals, culinary journeys, outdoor adventures and cultural experiences as seen through a local lens.
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Chicago? That’s going to involve blind tastings of the Windy City’s famed deep-dish pizza. Cancun? The La 16 Speakeasy is ready to keep your secrets despite the free-flowing mezcal. And participants could be forgiven if they thought the host property’s “Bodega on Broadway” Marquis Market was an actual hotel sundries outlet—complete with a store cat lounging in a pink shopping cart.
“More and more, we are seeing customers select locations not just based on our fantastic facilities and the number of guest rooms or the square footage of the ballroom, but on what authentic experience their meeting attendees can have within the walls,” said Amanda Cox, vice president of sales, convention and resort hotels, east region for Marriott International. “Today’s meeting planners are using experiences to differentiate their meetings and events.”
Cox’s observations are backed up by meetings and events trends research:
- Attendees as consumers first: Attendees now behave like consumers, seeking connection with purpose, intentional design and meaningful interactions, according to the Annual Industry Forecast by PCMA’s Convene magazine.
- Generational expectations: 64% of Millennials and Gen Z prefer immersive experiences, personal relevance and immediate engagement over traditional formats, according to predictions for 2025 from PCMA’s Convene magazine.
- Upgrade me: A recent survey by Hotels.com found that 85% of under-45 employees consider business travel a chance to “upgrade their lifestyle,” which includes more time to experience a destination.
“When I started in this industry, kind of a rule of thumb was everyone judged how exceptional a meeting was based on the food and beverage selections,” Cox said. “Food and beverage is still exceptionally important, but in today’s experience economy, it’s just as important for meeting professionals to look for what experiences their attendees can collect at the meeting. I think when we look at a meeting attendee and how they reflect on whether or not to attend a conference, meeting or event, we see those lines between personal travel and business travel more blurred than they’ve ever been before.”
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Elite Experience activities are available to leisure travelers and meeting groups (scalable depending on the size of the gathering) throughout the CRN portfolio, and further the bleisure travel trend, which injects leisure travel experiences into business events.
“It’s not just about the experiences that happen within the programming of a meeting and event, it’s also about, ‘I’m arriving a day early, I’m staying a day late. What experiences can I take advantage of as an individual meeting attendee traveling to the destination?’” Cox explained.
Blind Pizza Tasting Experience. Credit: Isaac Maiselman Photography.
Cox identified the following trends in experiential events.
“If you look at our Elite Experience Playbook, you see themes like culinary wellness, the power of play and bringing a spirit of whimsy into your event,” she said. “A lot of these events also give an opportunity to talk about how our hotels are connected to the communities in which our associates live and work, which is really inspiring. I think when people travel, particularly to somewhere new, that’s what they’re looking for; a chance to be a part of the local community for a small while.”
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By launching Elite Experience, Marriott also hopes to solidify brand loyalty and, citing internal data suggesting clients desire to return to the same hotel, give them new experiences to further immerse themselves in the property and destination on subsequent visits.
“One of my favorite things about our Elite Experiences at the Convention & Resort Network is there’s something for every palette and every price point,” Cox said. “I think sometimes there’s a notion where our customers assume that each experience is going to add a dramatically different line item to their budget, and such is not the case. Experiences don’t have to be expensive; they have to be meaningful and memorable, and that’s exactly what we bring to life.”
One hotel participant, Javier Cano, an area general manager who oversees the JW Marriott and The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles, has seen the destination experience trend firsthand from his meeting planner customers.
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“I think attendees and meeting planners more and more are looking for things that are more local; things that they can’t normally find elsewhere,” Cano said. “And we are very lucky that we as a company have amazing talent, and we’re doing these things all the time in our hotels. Being able to bring them together and then showcase what we can do is something that brings a tremendous amount of benefit and value.”
