RERUN: Travel tips from the CEO of Marriott, Arne Sorenson
Corner Office from Marketplace
Marketplace
4.8 • 545 Ratings
🗓️ 4 July 2018
⏱️ 25 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Arne Sorenson is only the third CEO in Marriott’s history and the first not to have “Marriott” as his surname. In 2016, he oversaw the company’s multi-billion dollar merger with Starwood Hotels and Resorts, making Marriott the largest hotel chain in the world by far. Sorenson joined host Kai Ryssdal from the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton in New York City to talk about how the travel ban has affected his business, that open letter he wrote to Donald Trump, why he hopes tax reform comes soon, what hotels of the future will look like and his personal tips for travel.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | everybody it's kai risdahl thanks for listening to the corner office podcast it may be the fourth of |
| 0:07.5 | july well it is and yes i am technically out of the office but it's still wednesday and we knew you would |
| 0:12.6 | still be wanting your ceo interview from us so today we're reaching well not too far back in the archives |
| 0:18.5 | back a little bit for an interview i did in october with arnie Sorenson, he's the CEO of Marriott, |
| 0:24.0 | figuring some of you are traveling for this holiday, so it might fit your needs. |
| 0:27.9 | I met up with Arne in New York City. |
| 0:31.2 | We're expecting you. |
| 0:32.6 | What do you have a seat? |
| 0:33.7 | Ready to go to work? |
| 0:38.7 | This is the lobby of the Ritz Carlton just off Central Park, what it sounds like anyway at 8 o'clock on a Wednesday morning. |
| 0:46.0 | The thing you need to know before we get into this too far is that as of last year, Marriott is the biggest hotel chain on the planet by, like, miles. |
| 0:54.0 | Because it merged with another |
| 0:55.1 | company Starwood, so if you're staying at a Weston or a Sheraton or a Springhill Suites or a |
| 1:00.5 | Rich Carlton, you are in fact staying at a Marriott Hotel. The whole deal was presided over by |
| 1:05.8 | Arnie Sorenson, only the third CEO in that company's history, and it was quite the big deal |
| 1:10.5 | that his last name |
| 1:11.4 | wasn't married. Always been looking for us talking to see you. Meeting the Scandinavian. Yeah, I know, right? I thought the same thing. I find too many Arnees out there. We heard you walk in a couple of minutes ago? What were you doing? Poking around? Looking to see how things were going? I stayed here last night. I did stay here last night? |
| 1:27.3 | I did stay here last night, yeah. |
| 1:28.3 | Do you ever stay at the courtyard around the corner where I'm staying? |
| 1:30.3 | I stay. What were you doing? Poking around? Looking to see how things we're going? I stayed here last night. I did stay here last night. |
| 1:27.7 | Do you ever stay at the courtyard around the corner where I'm staying? |
| 1:30.2 | I stay. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Marketplace, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Marketplace and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.