Victor Crawford Named Executive Vice President And General Manager, Marriott Distribution Services

Victor Crawford Named Executive Vice President And General Manager, Marriott Distribution Services

WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 -- Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR) announced today that Victor Crawford has been named executive vice president and general manager, Marriott Distribution Services, replacing Robert Pras who has retired from the company. Mr. Crawford is responsible for the overall operations of the business.

Mr. Crawford joined Marriott in 2000 as senior vice president, Marriott Distribution Services. He formerly served in various management positions with Pepsi-Cola General Bottlers, Inc., including vice president and general manager of the company's greater Chicago division, unit general manager in Cleveland and market unit general manager for southern Ohio. Mr. Crawford also held positions in finance and sales.

A native of Detroit, Mich., Mr. Crawford received a B.S. degree in accounting and finance from Boston College.

Mr. Crawford is a board member of the International Foodservice Distributors Association. He has been an active member with local chapters of the National Urban League and the NAACP.

Marriott Distribution Services (MDS) is a division of Marriott International, Inc. It is one of the largest limited-line distributors in the United States and provides food and related supplies to customers throughout the United States. MDS carries an average of 3,000 product items at each of its 14 distribution centers and provides food service distribution to over 5,000 restaurants nationwide.

MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL, INC. (NYSE: MAR) is a leading worldwide hospitality company with over 2,000 operating units in the United States and 58 other countries and territories. Marriott Lodging operates and franchises hotels under the Marriott, Renaissance, Residence Inn, Courtyard, TownePlace Suites, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites and Ramada International brand names; develops and operates vacation ownership resorts under the Marriott, Ritz- Carlton and Horizons brands; operates Marriott Executive Apartments; provides furnished corporate housing through its ExecuStay by Marriott division; and operates conference centers. Other Marriott businesses include senior living communities and services, wholesale food distribution, procurement services and The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company LLC. The company is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has approximately 151,000 employees. In fiscal year 1999, Marriott International reported system wide sales of 17.7 billion. For more information or reservations, please visit the Web site at http://www.marriott.com .