Marriott International Celebrates World Meetings Industry Day

Marriott International has supported World Meetings Industry Day since its inception in 2016 in conjunction with Meetings Mean Business, a coalition of key industry support players whose ultimate goal is to highlight the socioeconomic impact of business meetings, conferences, conventions, trade shows and exhibits in businesses and communities globally.

In the Caribbean and Latin America, Marriott International has more than 300 hotels in 37 markets, offering a range of possibilities to host events and meetings. “Our hotels and resorts epitomize the richness of the destination and lead to truly enriching events,” said Louise Bang, Regional Vice President of Sales and Distribution for Marriott International. The World Meetings Industry Day has been celebrated by Marriott International with a series of events and this year will be no exception:

South America
The Sheraton Santiago Hotel & Convention Center in Chile and the Sheraton Buenos Aires Hotel & Convention Center in Argentina will host meetings aimed at reactivating, training and impacting international events in the region. The Santa Marta Marriott Resort Playa Dormida, located in Colombia, has prepared a program to be held at the JW Marriott Hotel Bogota, where a breakfast will be offered followed by an ancestral wellness ritual with a guest Mamo Kogui (Spiritual Leader of the Sierra Nevada of Colombia ) to later give a presentation focused on thanking for being able to meet in person again.

Caribbean and Central America
The JW Marriott Hotel Santo Domingo will offer a lunch for meeting planners and will open a dialogue table on the new opportunities that exist in the Dominican market.
The W Panama will offer a wine and cheese event as well as presentations for clients in the meetings and events industry.

Mexico
The JW Marriott Cancun Resort & Spa will hold a presentation entitled "Glad We Could Meet Again" and the Marriott Puerto Vallarta Resort & Spa will host the "Reconnect with Our Industry" event together with Delta Hotels by Marriott Riviera Nayarit, an All-Inclusive Resort; The Westin Resort & Spa, Puerto Vallarta; W Punta de Mita and The St. Regis Punta Mita Resort), where a yoga class, breakfast and raffle will be offered. The event will have the participation of meeting planners, tourism trusts and tourism representatives from the government of Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit. 

Brazil
The Sheraton Grand Rio Hotel & Resort will hold a breakfast with executives from the Secretary and Office of Tourism of Rio de Janeiro. For its part, with the expected opening of the JW Marriott Hotel São Paulo scheduled for mid-year, the hotel will carry out an exclusive site inspection for a group of clients.

For this edition of World Meetings Industry Day, a point that is sought to be highlighted are the benefits of face-to-face meetings and how they can be held in a safe environment around the world, as well as the disproportionate and severe impact that the travel industry has had, particularly in events and meetings, because of the pandemic.

In line with the above, one of the main messages to spread is the high levels of vaccination that have been achieved in several markets, which contributes enormously to the recovery of the industry.

According to data provided by Meetings Mean Business, more than 63% of workers are tired of conducting business behind a screen.

So it's no surprise that business travelers are eager to return to in-person events and meetings. After nearly two years of virtual meetings through Zoom, Microsoft Teams and other platforms, it's clear that in-person interactions can't be replicated through a monitor.