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In a first for major hotel groups, Marriott hosted 75 loyalty members at HQ to preview an AI chatbot for travel booking and gather customer feedback on other innovations.
Marriott's C-suite invited 75 of the hotel group's most loyal customers to its headquarters in Bethesda, Md., on Tuesday, signaling just how valuable direct customer relationships have become as artificial intelligence threatens to upend the way travelers book hotels.
The company's first "members' day" for its Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program doubled as an elaborate focus group: Peggy Roe, the company's chief customer officer and head of the loyalty program, had members rotate through various learning and survey sessions.
Loyalty members got to test concepts for spa amenities, new looks for guest rooms at flagship brands, and fresh recipes for food and drink at its many restaurants and bars.
Nearly the full C-suite attended. Executives appeared to match attending loyalty members at a roughly one-to-one ratio. It was the first loyalty member gathering of its kind by a major hotel group. CEO Anthony Capuano said the company was likely to hold similar memb