Marriott Hotels invited the region's most inventive thought leaders to engage in inspiring conversations at Bengaluru Marriott Hotel Whitefield in India's tech and innovation hub.

Bengaluru, India - Media OutReach - 7 September 2018 - Marriott International's flagship brand Marriott Hotels continues to spark creative ideas and meaningful conversations worldwide, hosting its second TED Fellows salon in Asia Pacific on September 6^th at the Bengaluru Marriott Hotel Whitefield in India.  The event was attended by an engaged crowd of over 200 movers and shakers including innovative entrepreneurs, Marriott Rewards loyalty members, international media and influencers as well as top business school students. Bengaluru Marriott Hotel Whitefield was chosen as the destination to host this year's Marriott TED Fellows Salon because of the city's reputation as India's hub of technology and innovation.

Marriott Hotels 'Women in Innovation' TED Salon featuring speakers Trang Tran, Asha de Vos and Zubaida Bai and panel moderator Peggy Fang Roe, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer for Asia Pacific, Marriott International (left to right).

At the event, three TED fellows shared personal and professional stories around the theme of "Women in Innovation'. The speakers included women's health advocate Zubaida Bai from India, a passionate activist for improving global maternal health. She is the creator of the simple but revolutionary 'clean birth kit' to provide safer childbirths for impoverished women in the developing world. Meanwhile, founder of 'The Sri Lankan Blue Whale Project', marine biologist, whale conservationist and educator Asha de Vos shared a powerful message that whales must be protected because they play a crucial role in the health of the world's oceans. The third speaker, Trang Tran, is an agriculture entrepreneur and co-founder of Fargreen, and shared about how she's working with farmers to build sustainable, prosperous communities in her native Vietnam. 

 "We are excited to bring the next event in the TED Fellows Salon series to Bengaluru as part of our partnership with Marriott Hotels," said Shoham Arad, director of TED Fellows. "Our TED Fellows program was established in 2009 to bring together innovators and thought leaders to address some of the world's most pressing issues through the sharing of ideas and strategies. The speakers at this Marriott salon in Asia Pacific represented some of the best and brightest thinkers of their generation who are working towards making positive, meaningful and lasting change in their communities."

To further strengthen Marriott Hotels' commitment to innovation -- ahead of the evening TED Salon, a roundtable luncheon hosted by former award-winning Bloomberg anchor and the founder of Narramur communications agency, Angie Lau, brought together a dynamic community of nine Asian entrepreneurs to engage in thought-provoking conversations on 'Women in Innovation' and share ideas on how they're innovating in their respective fields.

"It was a pleasure to spark a conversation between innovative influencers and being able to share ideas on how to support Women in Innovation," said Peggy Fang Roe, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer, Asia-Pacific, Marriott International. "Innovation and creativity are key to our success as a travel company. The company's flagship brand Marriott Hotels is leading the pack with brilliant partnerships exemplified by this year's TED Fellows Salon, which is a prime example of how we offer money-can't-buy experiences to our guests and loyalty members."

The ongoing global partnership between Marriott Hotels and TED is now in its second year, following its launch in 2016 and has been expanded to include more exciting and innovative programming at Marriott Hotels in key destinations worldwide. Marriott Hotels is a brand that's geared towards a new generation of travelers, who continuously seek fresh inspirations and creative ideas during their own life-changing journeys around the world.

"Backed by 60 years of history, Marriott Hotels continues to innovate and inspire brilliance in our guests -- and this TED Salon has really brought to life what the brand stands for," said Mike Fulkerson, Vice President, Brand & Marketing Asia Pacific, Marriott International. "Marriott's salons engage with travelers around the world through its inspiring, empowering messages and we look forward to continuing this partnership in 2019 to bring these exciting experiences to more guests across Asia Pacific."

In addition to last night's TED Salon in Bengaluru, there will be TED Fellows Salons held at Marriott Hotels in exciting destinations including Boston, Cairo and Athens in upcoming months. Marriott Hotels also recently launched its newest Instagram story series, #MarriottHotelsxTEDFellows, which offers viewers original, inspiring content and an inside look at their favorite idea engine. To watch the series, follow @marriotthotels on Instagram and stay tuned for content throughout the year.

For more information, please visit tedtalksmarriott.com.

About Marriott Hotels

With over 500 hotels and resorts in 65 countries and territories around the world, Marriott Hotels is evolving travel through every aspect of the guest's stay, enabling the next generation to Travel Brilliantly. Boldly transforming itself for mobile and global travelers who blend work and play, Marriott leads the industry with innovations, including the Greatroom lobby and Mobile Guest Services that elevates style & design and technology. Marriott Hotels is proud to participate in the industry's award-winning loyalty program, Marriott Rewards® which includes The Ritz-Carlton Rewards®. Members can now link accounts with Starwood Preferred Guest® at members.marriott.com for instant elite status matching and unlimited points transfer. To learn more, visit www.MarriottHotels.com. Stay connected to Marriott Hotels on Facebook, @marriott on Twitter and @marriotthotels on Instagram.

About TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, usually in the form of short, powerful talks delivered by today's leading thinkers and doers. Many of these talks are given at TED's annual gathering in Vancouver, Canada, its TEDWomen and TEDGlobal conferences, and at thousands of independently organized TEDx events around the world, then made available, free, on TED.com and other channels.

TED's open and free initiatives for spreading ideas include TED.com, where new TED Talk videos are posted daily; TEDx, which provides licenses to thousands of individuals and groups who host local, self-organized TED-style events around the world; the TED Fellows program, which selects innovators from around the globe to amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities; Subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as translations from thousands of volunteers worldwide; and the educational initiative TED-Ed.