Marriott International announces Middle East development plans
Apr 25, 2008 H&MM Week In Review
BETHESDA, Md. April 22 /PRNewswire/ -- In Dubai during a whirlwind trip
including high-level meetings, visits with company employees and a major
speech, the head of Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE:MAR) also took the
next steps to ultimately more than double the company's hotels in the region
as he signed the first of four development transactions in three countries.
In separate ceremonies with Marriott's local development partners, J.W."Bill" Marriott, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Marriott
International, will sign new development agreements that will add to the
company's already record-setting pipeline of hotels planned or under
construction outside of North America. In the Middle East alone, the
company expects to expand its current portfolio of properties from 26 to 65
through 2011. With the signings involving nine properties and 2,000 rooms,Marriott's Middle East hotel pipeline now stands at 39.
Mr. Marriott, who also delivered a major speech today, highlighting the
importance of travel and trade to the world economy, said, "The Middle East
is not only a rapidly expanding center of commerce, but also a thriving
tourist destination. The region is a lynchpin in our company's long-term
vision to expand global distribution that supports our business strategy.
With these latest agreements, we now have a total of more than 134,000 rooms
in our global development pipeline with more than a quarter located outside
North America."
In the Middle East, Marriott International is represented by six brands: The
Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Marriott Hotels & Resorts,
Renaissance Hotels & Resorts, Courtyard by Marriott and Marriott Executive
Apartments. The properties to be added to the Marriott International system
also include the first Marriott Vacation Club International resort, the
company's timeshare division, in the Middle East.
Following are Marriott's new additions announced today:
Egypt Marriott International has reached an agreement with Concord for Touristic
Development S.A.E. for a 250 room Marriott resort in Marsa Alam expected to
open in 2011.
Saudi Arabia Marriott International has reached agreement with Fawaz Abdul Aziz Alhokair& Associates Company, LLC for five properties. These include a 250 room
Marriott hotel and 50 unit Marriott Executive Apartments in Damman, a 250
room Ritz-Carlton hotel with 100 Ritz-Carlton Residences in Riyadh, and a
220 room Courtyard hotel in Jubail. Each should open by 2011.
United Arab Emirates Marriott International has two new development deals in the United Arab
Emirates. The first with Aldar Properties PJSC for a 411 room Renaissance
hotel and 195 room Courtyard hotel in Abu Dhabi with both slated to open in
2011. In a joint venture with Al Futtaim Group, the company expects to open
a 320 unit Marriott Vacation Club International resort targeted for 2011 in Dubai Festival City.
Marriott's lodging business model is built around fee streams from managing
and franchising hotels for their owners and unit growth. With more than
3,000 hotels and 538,000 rooms in 68 countries, Marriott International is a
global lodging leader. The company manages nearly 70 percent of rooms in its
luxury and full-service upscale brand segments. These brands include The
Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott, Renaissance and Marriott.
Marriott operates a resort ownership business across four brands which
include weekly timeshare, fractional and whole ownership opportunities.
Each of the hotels in this Middle East expansion will be managed by Marriott
International under long-term agreements.
Note: This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the
meaning of federal securities laws, including statements concerning the
number of lodging properties we expect to add in the future and similar
statements concerning anticipated future events and expectations that are
not historical facts. We caution you that these statements are not
guarantees of future performance and are subject to numerous risks and
uncertainties, including the uncertain environment in the lodging industry
and the economy generally; supply and demand changes for hotel rooms,
vacation ownership, condominiums, and corporate housing; competitive
conditions in the lodging industry; relationships with clients and property
owners; the availability of capital to finance hotel growth and
refurbishment; and other risk factors identified in our most recent annual
or quarterly report on Form 10-K or 10-Q; any of which could cause actual
results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the
statements herein. These statements are made as of the date of this press
release, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise.
MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL, Inc. (NYSE:MAR) is a leading lodging company with
than 3,000 lodging properties in the United States and 66 other countries
and territories. Marriott International operates and franchises hotels
under the Marriott, JW Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Residence
Inn, Courtyard, TownePlace Suites, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites and
Bulgari brand names; develops and operates vacation ownership resorts under
the Marriott Vacation Club, Horizons by Marriott Vacation Club, The
Ritz-Carlton Club and Grand Residences by Marriott brands; operates Marriott
Executive Apartments; provides furnished corporate housing through its Marriott ExecuStay division; and operates conference centers. The company
is headquartered in Bethesda, Md., and had approximately 151,000 employees
at 2007 year-end. It is ranked as the lodging industry's most admired
company and one of the best companies to work for by FORTUNE(R), and has
been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with the
2007 Sustained Excellence Award and Partner of the Year since 2004. In
fiscal year 2007, Marriott International reported sales from continuing
operations of $13 billion. For more information or reservations, please
visit our web site at http://www.marriott.com/.
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