WEBVTT - Businessweek Talks- Hilton CEO Christopher Nassetta 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:03.760 This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason 0:00:03.840 --> 0:00:08.039 Kelly on Bloomberg Radio. Christmas set Back with the CEO 0:00:08.200 --> 0:00:12.360 of Hilton Worldwide Holdings on the phone from McClean, Virginia. 0:00:12.560 --> 0:00:14.600 My friend, it has been sometime. A lot of things 0:00:14.640 --> 0:00:16.880 have happened since the last time we sat down together 0:00:16.920 --> 0:00:19.880 in New York City. How are you. I'm doing great, Jason, 0:00:19.920 --> 0:00:22.599 Thanks for having me. Boy, what a difference about a 0:00:22.720 --> 0:00:25.280 year may since I was looking back. I was looking 0:00:25.320 --> 0:00:27.680 back at my calendar to the last time we talked, 0:00:27.720 --> 0:00:30.400 and sadly it was about a year ago, and we 0:00:30.400 --> 0:00:34.839 were in the process of celebrating our hundred year anniversary 0:00:35.320 --> 0:00:38.680 UM as a company. UM, that's quite a milestone. We 0:00:38.680 --> 0:00:41.760 we were celebrating it in in great fashion, in the 0:00:41.800 --> 0:00:45.240 sense of the company was performing at the absolute highest 0:00:45.320 --> 0:00:48.440 levels in its history. We were growing faster than we 0:00:48.560 --> 0:00:51.080 ever had, innovating more than we ever had. We have 0:00:51.560 --> 0:00:54.960 been recognized as the number one great place to work 0:00:55.160 --> 0:00:57.480 in the United States, the number two great place to 0:00:57.520 --> 0:01:01.480 work in the world, UM, and in so many ways, 0:01:01.640 --> 0:01:05.720 UM riding high UH in that time frame and frankly, 0:01:05.800 --> 0:01:09.840 up until probably the early part of March, UM but 0:01:09.880 --> 0:01:13.440 it's a very different world, um as as as is 0:01:13.480 --> 0:01:16.600 depicted by the fact that, um, I'm on audio and 0:01:16.640 --> 0:01:18.640 not sitting in the studio like I was a year 0:01:18.680 --> 0:01:22.280 ago with you. I hate I hate that part, particularly 0:01:22.319 --> 0:01:24.640 as somebody that's in the business of movement and travel. 0:01:25.200 --> 0:01:28.360 But this, this is our life at the moment. But yeah, 0:01:28.560 --> 0:01:31.960 it's a uh it's been an interesting few months for sure. 0:01:32.240 --> 0:01:34.920 Interesting to say that Lee's Chris last you know, three 0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:37.399 months and also last almost three weeks here, and we 0:01:37.440 --> 0:01:39.560 want to talk about the state of the hotel industry 0:01:39.560 --> 0:01:41.440 and how you see it. Got to ask you about 0:01:41.520 --> 0:01:46.640 leadership though amid what's happened in uh Minneapolis, um, the 0:01:46.680 --> 0:01:50.000 protests against racism. You know, we keep hearing we've got 0:01:50.000 --> 0:01:53.000 to have leaders step up. Money talks and whether you 0:01:53.040 --> 0:01:55.200 know who you work with in terms of your supply chain, 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:58.120 who you give internships to. You know, that's how you 0:01:58.200 --> 0:02:00.880 make a difference, That's how you make you know, you 0:02:00.960 --> 0:02:03.919 kind of move the conversation and actually move what's happening 0:02:03.920 --> 0:02:05.800 in our society. I got to get you to weigh 0:02:05.800 --> 0:02:08.640 in on this. Yeah, I couldn't agree more. Carol, and 0:02:08.800 --> 0:02:11.079 thanks and nice to talk with you. Wish I could 0:02:11.080 --> 0:02:14.480 see you. Um I'm saddened by everything that's going on. 0:02:14.560 --> 0:02:17.320 And this is something that as you can imagine, in 0:02:17.400 --> 0:02:20.360 a in an industry and in a company that is 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:23.920 incredibly diverse, this is this is a huge issue. This 0:02:24.000 --> 0:02:26.680 is diversity is not a new thing for us. You know, 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:29.839 We've been focused in this area for a long long 0:02:29.880 --> 0:02:33.960 time and and been recognized for number two Diversity inc 0:02:34.520 --> 0:02:38.720 um ranking in the United States for for diversity. UM 0:02:38.760 --> 0:02:41.919 But the reality is um as is depicted by what's 0:02:41.960 --> 0:02:46.200 going on, you know, right here in my hometown of Washington. 0:02:46.520 --> 0:02:48.920 You know, I could literally hear the protests going on 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:52.120 from my house and explaining to my children, two of 0:02:52.120 --> 0:02:54.560 whom both in New York and Washington, ended up in 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:58.120 the march, you know, to to support their black friends 0:02:58.560 --> 0:03:01.720 in the in this process. This is a sad day 0:03:01.760 --> 0:03:05.160 for America, and I think we've had many of these 0:03:06.040 --> 0:03:09.960 side sad days over the years and in recent years, 0:03:09.960 --> 0:03:12.880 and I think to your to your point in the question, 0:03:13.440 --> 0:03:15.519 it's high time we do something about it. That we 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:18.359 not just talk about it, but that we act upon it. 0:03:18.960 --> 0:03:21.840 And that means that collectively as a society and as 0:03:21.840 --> 0:03:25.600 a country, as we think about reform. We need to 0:03:25.600 --> 0:03:28.160 think about this and we need to do something about it, 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:32.400 including the criminal justice system. And that means each and 0:03:32.520 --> 0:03:35.720 every one of us um that has that, that our 0:03:35.840 --> 0:03:39.360 leaders across a broad range of industries, we need to 0:03:39.560 --> 0:03:41.640 even if we were we were focused on it, and 0:03:41.680 --> 0:03:44.160 even if we were, as is the case with Hilton, 0:03:44.240 --> 0:03:46.600 recognized for it, we have to recognize we have never 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:49.400 done enough. And given what is going on and what 0:03:49.440 --> 0:03:52.640 we're seeing, what is abundantly clear is there is so 0:03:52.880 --> 0:03:56.320 much more to do, and so, like everything for me 0:03:57.240 --> 0:04:00.000 and for Hilton, it's about trying to be a constructive 0:04:00.120 --> 0:04:02.720 part of the solution. And so you know, we are 0:04:02.800 --> 0:04:05.880 very I I've been communicating like crazy with all of 0:04:05.920 --> 0:04:09.760 our team members, including our black team members, all around 0:04:09.800 --> 0:04:13.000 the country. The stories I've been hearing our heart wrenching 0:04:13.480 --> 0:04:16.960 that they're pouring their hearts out about the impact you know, 0:04:17.000 --> 0:04:20.520 throughout their life that racism has had on them. There's 0:04:20.560 --> 0:04:25.240 obviously no place in society, no place in in in 0:04:25.360 --> 0:04:28.719 our industry, and no place in our company for racism. 0:04:28.720 --> 0:04:32.640 And so as a company, as much as we've been 0:04:32.640 --> 0:04:34.600 focused on it, there is so much more that we 0:04:34.640 --> 0:04:37.760 can do at all levels of our company to create 0:04:38.240 --> 0:04:42.279 more opportunities for our black team members, and that means 0:04:42.320 --> 0:04:44.760 at the very top of the ecosystem as we think 0:04:44.800 --> 0:04:47.840 about and already we're thinking about our border directors to 0:04:48.000 --> 0:04:50.719 the lowest levels of the company, and to make sure 0:04:50.960 --> 0:04:55.719 that we're creating opportunities and a feeder system to to 0:04:55.960 --> 0:05:00.440 develop our teammates in the in the black unity in 0:05:00.440 --> 0:05:02.880 a way where they can have bigger and better opportunities. 0:05:02.880 --> 0:05:04.479 And so as they say, this is something we were 0:05:04.560 --> 0:05:08.240 focused on, Okay, but I don't want to rest on 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:10.760 our laurels and the fact that we were ranked number two, 0:05:10.800 --> 0:05:14.280 and that's not good enough. I think for everybody, every leader, 0:05:14.320 --> 0:05:18.159 I think that the messages um we we obviously have 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:21.479 not done enough, and that as society, as business leaders, 0:05:21.520 --> 0:05:25.200 as political leaders, we need to use this moment to 0:05:25.480 --> 0:05:28.919 rally for change and not have it be like it 0:05:29.000 --> 0:05:31.400 has honestly been in a number of other cases in 0:05:31.440 --> 0:05:35.279 recent years where we talk there's a burst of activity 0:05:35.800 --> 0:05:38.040 and then we go back to to uh, you know, 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:41.080 back to where we were, and so we're really focused. 0:05:41.080 --> 0:05:43.039 I mean it has been I have a call literally 0:05:43.120 --> 0:05:45.479 as soon as we're done with this, I have a 0:05:45.480 --> 0:05:47.760 call with one of our team members who sent me 0:05:48.400 --> 0:05:53.400 the most heartbreaking email about her experiences in life and 0:05:53.440 --> 0:05:55.960 just ask I would like to talk to you. You 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:58.520 and I met once. I just want to be heard, 0:05:58.640 --> 0:06:01.040 and so you know, I've been doing lots and lots 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:04.040 of of those conversations to listen and learn, and I've 0:06:04.120 --> 0:06:07.239 encouraged all of our team, you know, take a moment, 0:06:07.560 --> 0:06:10.520 take a deep breath, like become part of the solution 0:06:10.560 --> 0:06:13.800 in the first step in that is trying to understand 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:16.919 it better so that we can help get to better 0:06:17.120 --> 0:06:20.719 better answers. Well, and Chris, this is obviously coming at 0:06:20.720 --> 0:06:24.480 a time when you are listening and thinking about your 0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:28.120 business and probably the most existential and holistic way that 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:30.320 you ever have. And you've been in this business for 0:06:30.360 --> 0:06:33.719 a long time. If you think of seven years, believe 0:06:33.720 --> 0:06:37.919 it or not, I would have said, did you start 0:06:37.920 --> 0:06:41.120 when you were five? What happened? Chris? Oh? I thank you, Carol. 0:06:41.160 --> 0:06:43.599 That's very kind of you, know I didn't. I'm older 0:06:43.600 --> 0:06:46.800 than you think. All the gray hairs that I that 0:06:46.920 --> 0:06:48.880 I have and a lot more than ninety days and 0:06:49.000 --> 0:06:53.120 I had had before. Exactly what's the biggest, single thing 0:06:53.120 --> 0:06:58.320 that's going to change about travel. I think here's the 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:01.080 thing I think, guys, when you wake up, and you 0:07:01.120 --> 0:07:03.760 may think I'm being apollyon, and I'll answer the question. 0:07:03.760 --> 0:07:07.080 I think when you wake up in three years, okay, 0:07:07.279 --> 0:07:09.920 I think travel it's hard to see it right now, 0:07:10.280 --> 0:07:12.400 like it was hard to see it after nine eleven 0:07:12.400 --> 0:07:14.840 in the in the wake of that, I think travel 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:18.080 and the experience in a hotel will look a lot 0:07:18.240 --> 0:07:22.760 more like it did ninety days ago than it does now. Okay. 0:07:22.840 --> 0:07:24.880 And now it looks like there's not many people in 0:07:24.920 --> 0:07:29.840 the hotels. You see people in ppe um, social distancing, 0:07:30.440 --> 0:07:34.360 you know, unbelievable. You know, hygiene protocols like our deal 0:07:34.440 --> 0:07:39.920 with Lysol and the Mayo Clinic to provide hospital cleanliness standards, etcetera. 0:07:40.760 --> 0:07:44.440 Some of that stuff will will go on and and 0:07:44.560 --> 0:07:47.000 some of it, you know, we'll we'll reverb back to normal. 0:07:47.040 --> 0:07:49.520 What will be different, you know, in my mind, is 0:07:49.880 --> 0:07:54.920 things that were already happening will accelerate. Okay. So example, 0:07:55.000 --> 0:07:57.000 we've made, and we talked about it last year when 0:07:57.040 --> 0:08:00.360 we were together, huge investments in technology. You know, I'm 0:08:00.400 --> 0:08:03.280 not just saying it because we've made these investments, uh, 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:06.160 to promote Hilton that's my job. But but I'm saying 0:08:06.200 --> 0:08:08.720 because I think it will be broadly what you find 0:08:08.720 --> 0:08:13.520 in the industry. There are things with technology, the digitization 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:18.679 of of our business that we're happening, but we're happening 0:08:18.720 --> 0:08:22.200 at a relatively slow pace, and I think many of 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:26.320 those things will the adoption rate to the expansion of 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:29.960 the digitization and the speed of that happening will excel 0:08:30.120 --> 0:08:34.040 accelerate like crazy. So example, we've already rolled out to 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:37.880 almost every hotel in the world digital check in, digital 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:41.320 room selection, and digital key So on your Hilton Honors 0:08:41.360 --> 0:08:45.920 app you can have you already could have had contactless entry. 0:08:46.120 --> 0:08:48.679 So for our Hilton Honors members, about a third of 0:08:48.720 --> 0:08:52.280 the people used it. Um I see. You know, when 0:08:52.320 --> 0:08:54.360 we have customers that are coming back in the hotels, 0:08:54.600 --> 0:08:57.520 you will see mass adoption of that and then people 0:08:57.559 --> 0:09:00.199 won't go back. It'll be like a cash flow machine was, 0:09:00.720 --> 0:09:03.560 you know, thirty five years ago, where everybody, you know, 0:09:03.720 --> 0:09:06.960 once it got adopted, people realize, wow, this is easy, 0:09:07.080 --> 0:09:09.840 this is seamless. Why wouldn't I do this? You know, 0:09:10.040 --> 0:09:13.000 other technologies like how you run everything in the room 0:09:13.080 --> 0:09:15.480 we call it connected room, how you run temperature, how 0:09:15.520 --> 0:09:19.840 you run lighting, how you run your audio visual um 0:09:19.880 --> 0:09:23.840 all of that which we developed in a proprietary technology 0:09:24.440 --> 0:09:27.520 called Connected Room, and we're rolling out not as extensively 0:09:27.559 --> 0:09:31.240 as Digital key. You will see that demand for that, 0:09:31.360 --> 0:09:34.760 an adoption of that accelerate. I do believe you also 0:09:34.800 --> 0:09:38.080 see hygiene standards while they were really good in the 0:09:38.120 --> 0:09:41.800 industry already. By the way Mayo Clinic was was was 0:09:42.320 --> 0:09:44.880 sort of shocked at how good we already were when 0:09:44.880 --> 0:09:46.400 we when we sat down with him to figure out 0:09:46.400 --> 0:09:49.600 what to do. There's no reason why you won't see 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:55.600 those higher, higher standards. But it's digitization will accelerate. I 0:09:55.640 --> 0:09:57.720 gotta ask you because people are like, you know, tweeting 0:09:57.720 --> 0:09:59.360 at me and messaging me. I've got to ask you 0:09:59.400 --> 0:10:01.360 because she said it's going to be you know, three 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:04.040 years from now, Well it'll look a lot like you know, 0:10:04.080 --> 0:10:06.520 more like it did you know ninety days ago, right 0:10:06.600 --> 0:10:10.199 pre COVID in terms of kind of the travel industry, 0:10:10.240 --> 0:10:13.120 the hotel industry coming back. But you know, what, what 0:10:13.160 --> 0:10:16.079 are you seeing so far? I mean, how robust a 0:10:16.160 --> 0:10:19.040 pickup and travel do you expect based on any of 0:10:19.040 --> 0:10:21.560 the advanced booking data that you're seeing. And I'm also 0:10:21.600 --> 0:10:25.320 curious about about business travel. Yeah, well, I think you know, 0:10:25.360 --> 0:10:28.840 there's three big segments in our business. There's leisure, transient, 0:10:28.920 --> 0:10:32.079 business transient, and then group business. You know, the vast 0:10:32.120 --> 0:10:35.720 majority of our business, well of our business relates to 0:10:36.280 --> 0:10:40.120 business related travel, either groups or business treans, and of 0:10:40.160 --> 0:10:42.360 it is what you would think of as leisure travel. 0:10:42.360 --> 0:10:44.080 Most people don't think about that, but that's sort of 0:10:44.080 --> 0:10:48.440 the breakdown of our business. And what we're seeing is 0:10:49.200 --> 0:10:56.360 significant recovery okay, but still um very significantly off of 0:10:56.440 --> 0:10:59.200 any sort of historical standards. So I'll give you put 0:10:59.280 --> 0:11:03.000 put some basic numbers. I think at the bottom, system 0:11:03.000 --> 0:11:07.760 wide occupancy for us in uh in eight in in 0:11:07.920 --> 0:11:11.600 May would have been you know, like ten or twelve percent. 0:11:12.040 --> 0:11:14.160 I think if you look at it like last night, 0:11:14.520 --> 0:11:18.720 it's like twenty seven or eight. So it's two or 0:11:18.760 --> 0:11:20.920 three times better than it was. But to keep that 0:11:20.960 --> 0:11:24.640 in perspective, we finished last year with an average occupancy 0:11:24.679 --> 0:11:32.120 of almost seventy okay, so it is meaningfully devastatingly um 0:11:32.240 --> 0:11:35.400 lower than where it was. But you are seeing a 0:11:35.480 --> 0:11:38.720 slow grind and the way it's happening, which is fairly 0:11:38.800 --> 0:11:44.520 typical by the way and other other declines, it's leisure first, 0:11:45.040 --> 0:11:48.520 it's business, and then it's group And right now what 0:11:48.559 --> 0:11:52.040 we're really seeing is predominantly growth and leisure. So like 0:11:52.080 --> 0:11:55.360 Memorial Day weekend, we had markets near beaches and you know, 0:11:55.360 --> 0:11:57.120 where people want to get out. We had hotels that 0:11:57.160 --> 0:12:00.559 we're at capacity, that lower capacity because of distancing and 0:12:00.720 --> 0:12:03.560 normal but as much capacity as we can handle. But 0:12:03.640 --> 0:12:07.920 business travel has not really come back in earnest because 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:10.600 most people still aren't back in their offices and allowing 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:12.800 people to travel. Does it take like a year to 0:12:12.840 --> 0:12:15.200 come back business travel? Chris, can you put a number 0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:17.960 on it? I think it's hard to say, Carol. My 0:12:18.040 --> 0:12:21.000 view is, and I've said this, you know, to a 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:23.960 lot of different people. I think what you'll see is 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:27.960 sort of a a significant shift up in level of 0:12:27.960 --> 0:12:30.960 occupancy over the next nine twenty days, which will be 0:12:31.040 --> 0:12:34.600 driven by a lot of leisure, particularly over the summer months, 0:12:34.600 --> 0:12:35.960 and a lot you know in the U S and 0:12:36.000 --> 0:12:41.520 the and and Western Europe and and absolute uh necessary 0:12:41.559 --> 0:12:45.359 business travel. That as businesses start to sort of reopen 0:12:45.400 --> 0:12:48.520 their doors and bring people back, but it will be anemic, 0:12:48.840 --> 0:12:52.240 and then I think you'll see a slow grind out 0:12:52.840 --> 0:12:56.160 from there. And it will take two or three years 0:12:56.559 --> 0:12:58.520 to get back to where it was. A lot of 0:12:58.559 --> 0:13:00.920 people would you might say, like, we will it ever 0:13:00.960 --> 0:13:02.880 get back. It will get back to where it was, 0:13:02.920 --> 0:13:06.040 it'll get beyond where it was. But here's what's happening. COVID. 0:13:06.360 --> 0:13:09.960 This is the statement of the obvious um. But COVID 0:13:10.120 --> 0:13:14.760 was a devastating pandemic and health crisis, and sadly a 0:13:14.800 --> 0:13:17.240 lot of people were sick and and and even more 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:20.720 sadly people died. But the impact that that as a 0:13:20.760 --> 0:13:23.040 result of COVID that we had on the economy is 0:13:23.080 --> 0:13:25.600 going to be lasting in my view. And so when 0:13:25.640 --> 0:13:28.000 you get through the health crisis, which we're not through 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:31.520 obviously but working our way through, you're gonna be in 0:13:31.520 --> 0:13:34.440 the middle of one of the toughest recessions that we've 0:13:34.440 --> 0:13:38.160 had in modern history that effects business. Businesses are letting 0:13:38.160 --> 0:13:42.040 people go, they are not hiring any incremental people, they've 0:13:42.080 --> 0:13:46.520 cut capital expenditures. All the things that helped generate activity 0:13:47.280 --> 0:13:51.000 um around our business have diminished. They will all come 0:13:51.040 --> 0:13:54.360 back as they always do. Okay, people are not going 0:13:54.400 --> 0:13:57.160 to zoom every They're not gonna stop traveling and do zoom. 0:13:57.160 --> 0:13:58.680 The rest of their life. They're gonna want to get 0:13:58.720 --> 0:14:01.520 back and see people in need to see people. But 0:14:01.600 --> 0:14:04.760 in the short over the next you know, sort of 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:07.280 year or so, I think it will be I think 0:14:07.280 --> 0:14:09.120 business travel will be weak, and then I think it 0:14:09.160 --> 0:14:11.600 will sort of work its way back over to two 0:14:11.679 --> 0:14:13.440 or three years. And the same with groups, I mean 0:14:13.640 --> 0:14:17.319 congregating in large groups. At this point, you know, we 0:14:17.400 --> 0:14:20.000 do have people booking groups and we're you know, we're 0:14:20.040 --> 0:14:22.800 getting ready to launch a whole program around how to 0:14:22.960 --> 0:14:26.560 how to do it really responsibly. Conventions aren't happening, Chris, right, 0:14:26.600 --> 0:14:28.560 like Jason, and we're supposed to go to a bunch 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:31.440 of things, just even something this week, a huge euro 0:14:31.680 --> 0:14:34.440 conventions happening, But they are going to start happening in 0:14:34.480 --> 0:14:36.920 the fall. They're not gonna happen in the summer. They're 0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:38.800 going to happen in the fall. And that's going to be. 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:40.120 One of the other things that I think will be 0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:42.800 a lasting change is that people are going to be 0:14:42.840 --> 0:14:46.960 doing hybrid um conferences. They're gonna be doing part physical, 0:14:47.080 --> 0:14:48.960 part virtual. And so one of the things we're doing 0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:53.480 is investing in this time with partners and and getting 0:14:53.520 --> 0:14:55.840 pipe into all the big hotels so that you can 0:14:55.880 --> 0:14:59.880 accommodate that. Um Again, I would say, when you go 0:15:00.640 --> 0:15:03.440 fast forward three or four years, I think the group 0:15:03.480 --> 0:15:06.320 business will look a lot like it did ninety days 0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:09.720 ago because we will have figured out COVID nineteen. I 0:15:09.720 --> 0:15:13.360 am highly confident either with the therapeutics or hopefully a 0:15:13.480 --> 0:15:16.680 vaccine based on what's going on, and people will feel 0:15:16.680 --> 0:15:20.480 like it is not an unreasonable hazard for them to 0:15:20.760 --> 0:15:23.720 congregate and humans. Here's the thing. You go back to 0:15:23.760 --> 0:15:25.920 the Spanish flu. You go back to all these things 0:15:25.960 --> 0:15:28.800 that were, you know, as devastating as this is. You 0:15:28.840 --> 0:15:30.680 get back and look at history where things were much 0:15:30.720 --> 0:15:33.680 more impactful from a mortality point of view, and you 0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:37.080 study it, and people went back sooner than you thought 0:15:37.200 --> 0:15:40.320 to their prior patterns once they felt that they you know, 0:15:40.320 --> 0:15:42.360 we're in a healthy space. Not that it's the same 0:15:42.560 --> 0:15:44.920 by any means. But nine eleven I remember nine eleven, 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:48.040 I lived through it. I was running another hotel company, 0:15:48.120 --> 0:15:51.160 and we remember sitting around talking with our board. Nobody's 0:15:51.160 --> 0:15:52.720 ever going to get on a plane again. Why would 0:15:52.720 --> 0:15:57.120 they get on a plane? They did, But three years 0:15:57.160 --> 0:15:59.080 is a long time. That's a long time to come 0:15:59.080 --> 0:16:01.560 to Chris I I do want to ask you about 0:16:01.600 --> 0:16:04.240 your employees and sort of the broader Hilton family as 0:16:04.280 --> 0:16:06.760 it were, and you know, understanding the way that you 0:16:06.840 --> 0:16:09.920 operate the business, there are lots of people who ultimately 0:16:09.960 --> 0:16:13.000 work for franchises and all of that, but you know 0:16:13.120 --> 0:16:15.480 they are they are Hilton folks. They have Hilton or 0:16:15.560 --> 0:16:18.280 or one of your brands on their shirt and there 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:21.920 or there a part of our family, of our family, 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:25.320 an important part of our family. And knowing how much 0:16:25.440 --> 0:16:29.600 the unemployment crisis has hit there, what do we need 0:16:29.680 --> 0:16:32.240 to do? What should the government be doing, what should 0:16:32.280 --> 0:16:35.280 we be thinking about in terms of protecting them? I know, 0:16:35.640 --> 0:16:38.920 you know you've talked to the President about this various times, 0:16:39.080 --> 0:16:42.160 a boun of times, and Secretary Manuchin and you know, 0:16:42.280 --> 0:16:44.760 talked to the leaders uh in the Senate, in the 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:47.680 House and everybody else. And I would say, you know, 0:16:47.760 --> 0:16:51.560 I feel very good about our government's response to this. 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:54.640 You know, they've worked in a very bipartisan way so far, 0:16:55.360 --> 0:16:57.200 you know, to address what I think have been the 0:16:57.240 --> 0:17:00.560 most meaningful issues, and that has been you know, our 0:17:00.600 --> 0:17:03.160 frontline teams not just for our industry, but you know, 0:17:03.240 --> 0:17:05.240 for a broader set of industries. The people that can 0:17:05.320 --> 0:17:08.600 least afford to be impacted are being most impacted. And 0:17:08.680 --> 0:17:11.920 so my comment to the President, to all the leaders 0:17:12.240 --> 0:17:15.480 UM in Congress was you know, we you know, they're 0:17:15.680 --> 0:17:18.720 really two things that I was I was reinforcing with 0:17:18.760 --> 0:17:20.960 them with it. The first job is take care of 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:25.080 frontline teams that are being impacted by this because they 0:17:24.840 --> 0:17:27.239 they will not be able to feed themselves, take care 0:17:27.280 --> 0:17:29.879 of their families. And so you know what's happened with 0:17:29.960 --> 0:17:33.879 the unemployment insurance top ups from the federal government adding 0:17:33.920 --> 0:17:38.320 to the state I think has been extraordinarily helpful. UM. 0:17:38.440 --> 0:17:40.360 You know, they need to extend that. Do you think 0:17:41.240 --> 0:17:42.880 I think they need to extend it, And And I think 0:17:42.920 --> 0:17:44.480 they will, but I think they need to do it 0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:47.119 in a little bit different form, you know, just in 0:17:46.960 --> 0:17:51.480 the sense that UM, in many cases it is provided 0:17:51.560 --> 0:17:54.000 when when people when we want to bring people back 0:17:54.080 --> 0:17:57.560 on it's actually in some cases provided a distancenter from 0:17:57.560 --> 0:18:00.360 people to go back to work. And so we need 0:18:00.359 --> 0:18:02.520 to we need to sort of right size it in 0:18:02.600 --> 0:18:06.159 the in various markets to make sure that it is 0:18:06.160 --> 0:18:09.040 not providing sort of that that incentive. But I think 0:18:09.160 --> 0:18:11.800 yes is the answer. The most important thing we can 0:18:11.840 --> 0:18:14.680 do for our frontline team members though, is get them 0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:16.480 back to work, right then, you know, we got to 0:18:16.480 --> 0:18:18.520 give them a bridge. And I want to talk about 0:18:18.560 --> 0:18:20.720 our owner community, to which I assume you get to, 0:18:20.920 --> 0:18:24.320 but because that's the other, big, big, you know, block 0:18:24.400 --> 0:18:27.280 of things that I've been pushing the administration on. But 0:18:28.320 --> 0:18:30.760 the best thing we can do is provide a bridge 0:18:31.560 --> 0:18:34.720 while there is no work, but get activity going again 0:18:34.800 --> 0:18:37.640 so that there is work, and we can get folks 0:18:37.680 --> 0:18:40.840 back in jobs, because that's what they really want for 0:18:40.920 --> 0:18:43.600 their self esteem is not the government to take care 0:18:43.640 --> 0:18:45.520 and they want to be back in working. Our people 0:18:45.680 --> 0:18:49.640 love hospitality, they love their people, serving people, they love 0:18:49.680 --> 0:18:53.639 what they do, and they're they're not enjoying this existence, 0:18:53.720 --> 0:18:56.480 even if they're, even if they're, they're being helped to 0:18:56.560 --> 0:18:58.280 survive it. And the way to do that is to 0:18:58.760 --> 0:19:02.520 which I've been to respond, possibly continue to open economies, 0:19:02.920 --> 0:19:07.360 make sure that we have massive amounts of testing, very 0:19:07.400 --> 0:19:14.639 sophisticated contact tracing methods, use social distancing aggressively, use of PPE. 0:19:14.760 --> 0:19:17.320 Until further notice, we only have a couple of minutes left, 0:19:17.560 --> 0:19:19.600 tell us about the owner community, because I think this 0:19:19.680 --> 0:19:21.320 is really important because we've done a lot of stories 0:19:21.359 --> 0:19:24.440 at Bloomberg about temporary people who are out of work 0:19:24.560 --> 0:19:27.080 becoming permanent work. You know, workers who are out of work. 0:19:27.119 --> 0:19:29.679 So what do we need to do to help those owners? Well, well, 0:19:29.720 --> 0:19:31.280 we need to do and we've been doing through p 0:19:31.400 --> 0:19:34.080 PP and main street lighting programs, which again have been 0:19:34.160 --> 0:19:37.600 really responsible approaches. But we we need more access for 0:19:38.119 --> 0:19:41.439 the hospitality industry. We need the bridge of liquidity so 0:19:41.520 --> 0:19:46.320 that liquidity doesn't liquidity crisis doesn't become a solvency crisis. 0:19:46.359 --> 0:19:48.920 You know, most of our owners are small and medium 0:19:48.960 --> 0:19:53.160 sized businesses, their entrepreneurs, even if they have some reserves, 0:19:53.440 --> 0:19:56.240 no businesses built for zero revenues and so they have 0:19:56.400 --> 0:19:59.359 you know, they can't keep their employees because they'll go 0:19:59.440 --> 0:20:02.720 broke if do. And so PPP has been helpful in 0:20:02.720 --> 0:20:05.760 that regard, and the extension of it's been helpful, and 0:20:05.800 --> 0:20:08.240 the extending of the number of weeks it cover is helpful. 0:20:08.320 --> 0:20:10.600 But I think main street lending is going to going 0:20:10.640 --> 0:20:12.720 to be important, and I think ultimately we're going to 0:20:12.760 --> 0:20:16.840 continue to have to um do more for the ownership 0:20:16.840 --> 0:20:19.800 community to provide the bridge the liquidity to get to 0:20:19.800 --> 0:20:22.119 the other side. And then the next step is going 0:20:22.160 --> 0:20:25.080 to be which they're working on early days cares for 0:20:25.320 --> 0:20:28.639 is how do you stimulate uh, you know, with with 0:20:28.680 --> 0:20:31.359 a responsible system set up of testing and all the 0:20:31.400 --> 0:20:33.840 things to make sure it's healthy. How do you stimulate 0:20:33.880 --> 0:20:37.639 the economy. How do we stimulate mobility and travel and 0:20:37.840 --> 0:20:40.199 obviously a healthy and safe weight. We're good. That's the 0:20:40.280 --> 0:20:43.440 next step to get the bridges, the bridge of liquidity 0:20:43.440 --> 0:20:46.040 and then stimulate activity. Just gotta say, you gotta promise 0:20:46.119 --> 0:20:48.120 us next time we're going to be in studio when 0:20:48.119 --> 0:20:52.520 we do this. Okay, we got tobolutely alright. Christmas, Thank 0:20:52.520 --> 0:20:56.239 you so much, Charen's CEO of Hilton. We really appreciate it.