Marriott International will reach a portfolio of 4,000 hotels in 90 countries by the end of 2014, the company has said.
In a presentation at its first analyst and investor meeting in China, the US hotel giant said the growth would be led by the company’s Chinese expansion, which will see it increase to 100 hotels in nearly 40 markets in China by year-end 2014.
“China is a fitting place to present our tremendous global growth story and discuss our outstanding financial prospects. Even today, China is our second most important market after North America, representing roughly 5% of total fees. On average we expect to open a hotel a month in this country over the next three years,” commented Marriott’s president & CEO, Arne Sorenson.
“We are working with our industry to smooth the visa process in the US and we look forward to welcoming more visitors from around the world,” he added.
The company currently has 115,000 hotel rooms in its development pipeline, and could open up to 105,000 of these by the end of 2014, not including the planned acquisition of US hotel group Gaylord.
Marriott also said that it could generate up to US$1.9 billion in worldwide fees by 2014, based on global revPAR growth of 6-8%. During this period it expects to invest up to US$2.8 billion.
