Marriott and Nepal: The perfect synergy

When people travel to any new place, they look for a place that makes them comfortable and safe. The hospitality, the food, the ambience - everyone wants a place that can give them all this and much more. This is exactly what Marriott International has been doing for almost a century.

Marriott started as a small root beer stand in 1927, and has now grown to be one of the most successful business and hotel brands. The hotel business, which first started in the United States, now holds a reputable international reach, and in 2017, Marriott also opened their first entity in Nepal in the form of Fairfield by Marriott. A year later, they also opened Marriott Hotel in Kathmandu.

“I can’t say much about why Marriott decided to open in Nepal because I wasn’t there at the time,” the current General Manager Piotr Madej says with a laugh. “But I am glad that they have! Nepal is a country where marketing is still developing. For a market like Kathmandu, where there is still much to learn about, there’s a sort of synergy between Marriott and Kathmandu. Marriott promotes Nepal to the international tourists through its international market, while Marriott benefits from the tourists that come to Kathmandu.”

Madej, who has been in the hotel business for over twenty years now, holds a deep place for Marriott in his heart. In the early 90’s, almost the entire nation of Poland was in the dark when it came to western commodities, even Coca-Cola. Madej recalls the time when Marriott opened their hotel in Warsaw and his grandfather took him to the hotel for their first drink of the popular beverage. Since then he has always associated Marriott with positive change and hope.

Being a General Manager in one of their hotels now is definitely something to be proud of for Madej, and he continues to promote Marriott Kathmandu to both the local and international markets. Marriott, an international brand, offers the local clientele high quality services, which is not easily available in Kathmandu. This means they can choose from a range of services - from their gym to their restaurants. On the other hand, Marriott gives assurance to international tourists in Kathmandu. For those who may have not visited Nepal previously, Marriott delivers tourists the standard they expect, from the rooms to the hospitality.

It would be an understatement to say that Marriott has been successful in Kathmandu. Even before the mountaineering season in Nepal, they have achieved near 100 percent occupancy. However, for the past two years, just like other aspects of life, Marriott, too, was impacted by the pandemic.

“The pandemic that started from early 2020 really was something that rocked the entire world, including us,” says Madej. “There were a lot of worries and uncertainties during that time. When the pandemic started, tourism came to a standstill because flights were closed. As an international brand, we have commitments to employees all over the world, and the last thing we want to do is terminate their contracts.

“But presently, I think Covid is on the verge of ending, and we are almost reopening once again. There is much to be optimistic about as well, because as a hotel, the onus is on us to wake the local market up. But the bigger picture is that I feel we all have come out stronger out of this pandemic. We also have become more humane, in the sense that we now start appreciating everything around us. Even the small things like being able to travel outside, we are now being grateful for all these little aspects.”

With the possibility of the pandemic coming to an end, Marriott plans to further spread out its initiatives in Nepal. Construction of another hotel, Moxya, is already in the works. Furthermore, Marriott plans to funnel its clientele as per the season. For instance, during mountaineering seasons, Marriott will target mountaineers from various countries for that period of time. Furthermore, Madej believes that personalizing the options for guests is critical for any hotel to succeed. Even towards the local market, Marriott is trying to give more options and activities from whiskey tasting to rooftop evenings.

“I think the future is very bright,” Madej says, “As people come out of this pandemic, they will want to explore more. For a country like Nepal, this is fantastic! I can even say that Nepal, for all it offers, will be one of the top destinations for tourists. However, I also want to say that there needs to be unity among the hotels in Nepal. Yes, we might be competitors in the market, but in the long run, we need to be working for Nepal. The priority is for the guest to first come into Kathmandu, and we automatically all become winners because this is a move forward for our market.”