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www.travelweekly-asia.com | 21 HOSPITALITY Peggy Fang Roe loves statistics and challenges and opportunities for her role as chief sales and marketing International. "My favourite statistic is 61% of the world's population lives in Asia the crowd at Hong Kong's Rugby 7s tournament, where we met. nightmare, thanks to all the different countries and source markets within the region. With Marriott we have 30 brands around the world, plus our loyalty programmes. The trick is to to place my spend. "It's a constant evolution." Fang Roe's main goals are to building the region's source markets for the brand's properties around the world. Riding the trends and travels of Mainland China obviously our number one source market by a long shot," she spend is expected from China alone this year, encompassing business and leisure. Chinese travellers are expected to take an estimated 700 million trips outbound over the next Mainland China is Marriott International's number one destination for inbound global travel spend is growing four times as fast as business. People prioritise spending on experiences, while families want to take their kids, partly for bragging rights, partly for education. "Hard-working people looking for escapes are driving the numbers, too. In our development pipeline we have a number of hotels opening from 30 minutes to an hour's drive from bigger cities." Fang Roe loves pushing innovation by collaborating with local partners, and last year's venture with Alibaba touched on a multitude of common pain points in travel. "We are making travel planning easier by creating a global website that prioritises the Chinese language, exploring wallet-free travel by implementing Alipay and post- stay pay around the world (rolling out soon). "We are also bringing VIP experiences to life for Chinese travellers, inviting them to events like the Hong Kong's Rugby 7s for example, and focusing on next generation loyalty, sharing points across platforms." She cited Shanghai, Sanya and Hainan as destinations with strong development and distribution. "There's a lot of development in 2nd- and 3rd-tier cities too, such as Yiwu where 70% of the world's Christmas decorations are made." Marriott International currently has more than 100 properties in the India is, of course, Fang Roe's second market in the region. It may receive just 20% of global spend but Marriott has just opened its 100th hotel there. Elsewhere, Laos, Myanmar, Auckland and Cambodia are up and coming. Rolling out authentic experiences The Spa by JW concept, currently another one of her babies. "We looked at why hotel spas weren't being used and found most travellers needed shorter, in-and-out visits for nails, hair and massage. So we've made the menu more relevant with performance-driven experiences." my job has been different every year," she says. "That's partly due to the dynamic market, and the growth and nature of emerging markets, but also our company is growing, pushing and changing along with the travel trends. "We want to be relevant and interact with the customer in the moment, based on what we're seeing on social." What she's seeing on a macro level in China is that while local food and experiences continue is growing fast, perfect for partnerships with Westin and Element brands. "When I moved here four years deal, but they are much more popular now. Basketball in China is are on the rise." Making a stand for females Fang Roe also devotes time to innovate through the company's Women in Leadership initiative. "Through the nature of my career, people saw me as a role model and I felt it was almost my duty to do something about the industry. I think it is important to share with women the possibilities early in their careers so they will see the opportunities," she said. "When I came to Asia I had two mad choice, as I knew travel would be a large part of my job. When I share these decisions I see the look on other women's faces. They are thinking, 'If you can do it, I can too'. "We want to be relevant and interact with the customer in the moment." – Peggy Fang Roe, chief sales and marketing offi cer, Asia Pacifi c for Marriott International. Peggy Fang Roe, chief sales and marketing offi cer, Asia Pacifi c, wants to fi ll up Marriott's hotels in the region while enticing more guests with innovative experiences. By Catharine Nicol Marriott's marketing maven has a lofty dream