The Women’s Final Four in Minneapolis was the biggest gathering in women’s college basketball since the pandemic began more than two years ago. And in the light of last year’s NCAA gender equity report, all eyes were on the destination to make sure that women’s sports were celebrated not only on the court and in the Target Center, but that the experience extended beyond the arena to every detail including how the city and NCAA partners treated the event — including where people stayed during the weekend.

Julius Robinson, the senior vice president and global brand leader for Marriott Hotels, joined SportsTravel managing editor Matt Traub on location in Minneapolis to discuss how Marriott plans for big events like the Women’s Final Four, what it’s like working with the NCAA as its official hotel partner, how important sports-related travel has been to Marriott's business the past two years, sports tourism trends the hotel chain has seen lately and what the one big sports event he still would like to check off his bucket list.