Marriott International added as many as 470 new hotels to its portfolio last year. The famous hotelier announced its most successful deal in the history of the company outside North America. 2017 was a definitely good year for Marriott as it opened more than 470 hotels around the world within just 12 months. That helped to add 76,000 new rooms to the portfolio of the hotelier and increase brand recognition among developers, owners, and guests.
For January 1, 2018, the global portfolio of Marriott International includes more than 6,500 hotels, both operated and franchised, with the total of 1.25 million rooms. At the same time, only a third of these rooms are open outside North America, so the hotelier has a high potential for expanding its presence on other continents. The number of signed contracts in 2017 is no less impressive 750 deals that will add 125,000 new rooms once these hotels are open. These deals include both franchise agreements and long-term management deals. The company’s global pipeline is currently on the record level for Marriott 460,000 rooms under construction, and more than a half of these rooms are to open outside North America.
The Asia Pacific region is one of the key regions of Marriott International. At the moment, the region’s share in the hotelier’s portfolio is 15%, but the Asia Pacific represents almost a third of the pipeline. In 2017, Marriott opened almost 18,000 rooms in this region and signed another 31,000. The share of Greater China alone is 8% in the portfolio, and 19% of the pipeline belongs to this region. Europe is another target destination where Marriott opened 5,800 new rooms in 2017 and signed 12,000 more. The current share of the region in the global pipeline is 9%.
Marriott opened 329 hotels in North America and signed 482 more, but the company is also looking for new deals in Latin America and the Caribbean where the hotelier reached a new record in 2017 19 new hotels and 37 signed contracts. Twelve new hotels appeared in the Middle East and Africa, with 30 more under development.
Last year, the hotelier experienced increased demand for select service hotel brands. The vast majority of the 750 deals 578contracts were signed for 11 select service brands, such as Courtyard, AC, and Moxy. This category is particularly popular in North America and the Asia Pacific regions. Nearly 80% of all hotels in the pipeline belong to luxury, upper upscale, and upscale categories. The hotelier has 7 luxury brands with 469 hotels already operating and more than 200 in the pipeline. Marriott emphasizes that they are focused not just on adding new rooms but on increasing economic value and providing quality results to both guests of property owners.