Marriott International To Open 57 Hotels In Asia Over Next Four Years

Marriott International, which has just celebrated its 20th anniversary in Asia, plans to expand its existing portfolio of 109 hotels by a further 57 properties offering 15,510 rooms over the next 48 months.

They state that this growth will also create more than 15,000 new jobs in the hospitality sector across Asia and provide many career development opportunities for their current employees.

All of the new hotels, most of which have been previously announced, will be operated under long-term management contracts and will range from the company's luxury JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton, through upscale Marriott and Renaissance, to its upper moderately priced Courtyard brands; as its Marriott Executive Apartments brand for extended stay travelers.

According to Ed Fuller, Marriott's president and managing director for international lodging, the group experienced its most robust growth in China, India, and Thailand.

He added that despite the current global economic and financial challenges, competition in the hospitality industry for service-minded, people-oriented employees is fierce and will intensify once the current slowdown is over. He noted that approximately 50% of Marriott's leadership at the property level began their careers in line level positions within the Marriott group.

Fuller also credited Marriott's many community engagement initiatives throughout the region for its success in gaining customer acceptance. "It's an old maxim in business that people like to do business with people they like, and with companies they perceive as doing the right thing," he said.

Among Marriott International branded properties opening in Asia over the next 48 months are 21 hotels in China, 24 in India, and eight in Thailand. Additionally, Marriott will open its first property in the Maldives and its first Courtyard-branded hotel in South Korea in 2010 and will introduce its JW Marriott brand in Vietnam in 2013.