Marriott Announces North American, International Leadership Changes

Long-time Marriott International senior executive Dave Grissen has decided to step down from his position as group president, the Americas, toward the end of 2020 and retire from Marriott in the first quarter of 2021, after 36 years with the company. Grissen, who has been leading the company’s Americas business for the past 11 years, oversees all of the company’s Americas’ lodging business comprising more than 5,640 properties and a workforce of 160,000 people.

“It’s hard for me to picture a Marriott without Dave Grissen, someone who has been such an integral part of this company for so long,” said Arne Sorenson, Marriott’s president/CEO. “Dave is the consummate strategist with the mind of an operator. He is as equally skilled at driving successful implementation as he is at looking over the horizon to identify that next, new idea. Perhaps his most important legacy is the work he has done to champion leadership training and the impact that had developing new leaders and driving performance at our hotels across the region. We will certainly miss Dave, but I know that the next phase of his life will be as dynamic and meaningful as his extraordinary tenure here at Marriott.”

Grissen leads all aspects of the company’s biggest region, the Americas, which generates more than two-thirds of the company’s fee revenues. Under Grissen’s leadership, Marriott’s Americas organization has grown from 2,928 hotels to 5,640 properties today, with another 1,800 hotels in the pipeline. Grissen also has global responsibility for the company’s Edition brand.

Grissen started with the company as a division controller and has held a number of positions during his tenure with Marriott including: senior vice president of finance and business development; senior vice president of the Mid-Atlantic region; executive vice president of the Eastern region; president of the Americas; and group president with responsibility for the Americas division and companywide areas such as global operations.