Marriott CEO says company watching if slowdown in travel spending was 'just a blip'

By Doyinsola Oladipo

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Marriott International's Chief Executive Officer Anthony Capuano said on Wednesday that the company is watching to see if higher-end consumers will continue to pull back their travel spending in the third quarter.

High-income consumers continue to prioritize travel, but the company in the second-quarter saw a small pullback on ancillary spending such as food, beverage and spa services.

"We'll watch that over the next couple quarters to see if it was a blip or if they're being a little more judicious in their spending," Capuano said at a travel conference in New York.

Ancillary spending rose year-over-year in the second quarter but not quite as much the company had anticipated, Capuano added.

(This story has been corrected to say that the company is monitoring ancillary spending of higher income travelers, not budget travelers,in paragraph 1)

(Reporting by Doyinsola Oladipo in New York; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Chizu Nomiyama)