Once, when Tina Edmundson was a young child travelling with her family, she secretly snuck into the lounge on a 737 plane. “Back in those days, airplane lounges existed on the upper deck. It was such a fun adventure,” recalled Marriott International’s president of luxury.
She has many such memories, having come from a family deeply rooted in travel. “Both my parents worked for an airline, and today, my brother is a pilot with Air India. Growing up, we travelled the world, which I loved.
My parents believed that travel provided the best education, and every summer, we took trips abroad. I developed a fascination with hotels and the hospitality industry at a young age,” the Mumbai-born Edmundson elaborated. Prior to taking on her current role in 2023, she held a string of management positions over the course of 16 years with the hotel group.
A hallmark moment was her involvement in the 2016 acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts into the Marriott fold, making the latter the largest hotel company in the world with 30 brands and approximately 9,000 properties worldwide. Edmundson’s luxury portfolio comprises 626 properties (including hotels, residences and timeshares) across 71 countries and territories, spread among eight brands: The St Regis, Ritz-Carlton, Ritz-Carlton Reserve, Bvlgari Hotels & Resorts, Edition, The Luxury Collection, JW Marriott and W Hotels. So, what does a president of luxury do? Edmundson’s job is to anticipate and cater to the needs of the .