Here we are at Marriott International Worldwide Headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland! The Hawaii state flag has been raised and is flying high amidst clear blue skies.
Mr. Bill Marriott, chairman and CEO of Marriott International, and several hundreds of eager associates welcomed all of us on Marriott’s Spirit of Aloha Tour with much fanfare. It was a very humbling experience, to say the least. Many of the associates were in full aloha attire. Each were given a white shell lei - we purchased 1,500 lei for the occasion! In addition, Mauna Loa generously donated 1,500 pouches of ono (delicious) dry roasted macadamia nuts for each person to snack on!
The room was buzzing with excitement minutes before the program.
Mr. Ed Fuller, president and managing director of International Lodging for Marriott International, asked all of the associates to join him in saying “Aloha” to us all. He applauded Ed Hubennette, vice president for North Asia, Hawaii and South Pacific, for being the “brain child” of what has become an overwhelmingly successful Spirit of Aloha Tour.
Mr. Marriott acknowledged and thanked Ed Hubennette and general managers Dan Banchiu (a familiar face to Marriott's Headquarters), Bill Countryman, and Elliot Mills and their team, and the Polynesian Cultural Center for engaging customers along the tour.
Ed Hubennette was called upon to give a few remarks of his own. He welcomed this visit as an opportunity to thank everyone personally at Marriott's Headquarters for their support of Marriott in Hawaii. And because of their support, he went on to extend a special associate rate at each Marriott property in Hawaii and additionally a special discount on airfare. He also thanked Polynesian Cultural Center, Camile Velasco, American Idol Season Three Finalist and Spirit of Aloha Tour spokesperson for the West Coast, and Hawaiian Airlines for making this tour a success.
Marriott associates graciously welcomed and cheered the Polynesian Cultural Center dancers and musicians as well as Camile.
They were even honored by Mayor of Honolulu Mufi Hannemann’s presence. He praised and thanked Marriott for having the vision for the bus tour so that visitors would come to Hawaii as well as to ensure that Marriott provides continued quality visitor experiences in our diverse hotels in Hawaii.
After the remarks, Camile sang her rendition of “These Islands” with Polynesian Cultural Center musicians Halam and Lena as well as hula dancer Candace followed by more Hawaiian entertainment by PCC. Later, Ed Fuller and Ed Hubennette drew an associate’s name out of a box for a special grand prize trip to Hawaii complete with airfare for two and a hotel stay at any one of Marriott’s resorts in Hawaii. Congratulations to Scott!
After the program concluded... we all wanted to catch up with everyone at Marriott. Here's Mayor Hannemann chatting with Ed Hubennette and Debbie Marriott Harrison.
What a great day and thank you - mahalo - to our fellow associates at Marriott International Headquarters for all your support of our efforts here at Marriott Resorts Hawaii. We’ll leave here with special memories. Click here to see Mr. Marriott’s blog comment.
-- Marriott's Spirit of Aloha Tour team
Congratulations to the entire
Congratulations to the entire Marriott Resorts Hawai'i team on a phenomenal Aloha Tour! This was such a great idea and we thoroughly enjoyed participating in Portland and Seattle. It was wonderful to reconnect with you!
I'm looking forward to working with you often in the coming months.
Mahalo,
Janice (& Norm)
Kudos to everyone involved in
Kudos to everyone involved in the tour. Taking a positive message on the road and sharing Marriott's Spirit to Serve with Aloha in so many cities across the country is the forward thinking type of initiative that speaks volumes about Marriott's dedication and commitment to their customers, their associates and the beautiful and unique islands of Hawaii. Mahalo! A hui hou!