Asia-Pacific Power List 2022: Bart Buiring, Marriott International

Bart Buiring

Chief sales and marketing officer, APAC
Marriott International
Hong Kong
New member 

At the turn of 2019, absolutely no one could have predicted that a pandemic would shake the world for the next two years. It’s no secret that hospitality was one of the worst-hit sectors but seasoned professionals see opportunity in the face of every crisis. Marriott International, a 94-year-old global company, derived a winning recipe for post-Covid recovery. Tremendous resilience, agility in response, hyper-local thinking and mindfulness of trends were just some of the key bullet points for Bart Buiring, Marriott International’s chief sales and marketing officer for Asia-Pacific.

A veteran of more than two decades at the company, Buiring oversees 850 Marriott hotels in 23 different countries under 24 brands. Starting his career as F&B director at JW Marriott Mumbai, he had a quick ascent to director of operations at the same hotel. Today, he leads the sales, marketing, revenue, brand management, digital, communications, loyalty, Bonvoy, and partnerships among several other portfolios for the entire region. 

Like several competitors, Marriott slashed its marketing budget worldwide with the crash of global travel in 2020, and slowly resumed spending in APAC as appetite for travel—especially luxury travel—resumes. Coming from a background in F&B, valuing customer feedback is ingrained in Buiring’s DNA. This philosophy helped uncover the consumer shift in mindset around domestic travel and made the brand fundamentally rethink their offerings. With sealed borders and a pent-up demand for luxury and relaxation, domestic travel had to be curated around wellness, immersive experiences, and a seamless digitised journey. Therefore, mobile keys, the ability to request services and amenities via chat, became signature offerings in all Marriott hotels. 

Buiring also pioneered the Good Travel with Marriott Bonvoy programme, an Asia-Pacific offering which redefines purpose-led vacations. Spanning across 100 hotels in the region, the programme provides guests the opportunity to connect positively with local communities and the environment. From coral preservation at The Ritz-Carlton Okinawa, or a visit to a pioneering special education school near The JW Marriott Marquis Hotel in Shanghai Pudong, Buiring and his team have set out to make travel richer, wider, and more collaborative. 

As a principled, organised and well-respected leader, Buiring attributes much of his success to a commitment to engage in work that genuinely serves and takes care of his people. He is also an advocate for inclusivity, sustainability, teamwork, and empowerment—and is always exploring ways to inspire an individual’s personal commitment to the broader group effort.