'Hundreds of guests' still trapped in Puerto Rico after Maria devastation, Marriott CEO says
- Marriott International CEO Arne Sorenson says that "hundreds of guests" are still trapped in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria slammed into the U.S. territory.
- Sorenson says associates are attempting to figure how to get assets back up and running.
- "We have some first responders and relief workers that are already coming and staying with us even though they've been warned there might not be things like air conditioning and other things they typically would find," he adds.
Marriott International CEO Arne Sorenson told CNBC on Wednesday that "hundreds of guests" are still trapped in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria slammed into the U.S. territory.
Residents of Puerto Rico this week described living in desperate conditions and seeking aid from federal agencies.
A week after the Category 4 storm, many of the more than 3.4 million U.S. citizens in the territory were still without adequate food, water and fuel.
Sorenson, whose company has 16 properties and employs thousands of workers in Puerto Rico, said associates are attempting to figure how to get assets back up and running.
"Those hotels are essentially closed today. I say essentially because we had hundreds of guests that were trapped there and are still there not able to get out yet," said Sorenson.
"We have some first responders and relief workers that are already coming and staying with us even though they've been warned there might not be things like air conditioning and other things they typically would find," he said in an interview on "Squawk on the Street."
"We're going to see many months of work before the destination comes back to where it could be," he said.
Sorenson said it's too early to tell what the financial implications are from the storm.
Earlier this week, the U.S. ramped up its response to the humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico.
On Wednesday, Sorenson also spoke about the Trump administration's plan to reduce the corporate tax rate.
Republicans unveiled sweeping changes to the U.S. tax code on Wednesday.
Sorenson said the plan will not result in anything "dramatic" for the company in terms of how it will deploy capital for now. The U.S., however, has to bring the corporate rate down, he said.
— The Associated Press contributed to this report.