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Dubai: Marriott International is to add 39 more hotels to its current portfolio of 26 in the Middle East, J.W. 'Bill' Marriott, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Marriott International, told the media on Monday.
"With this, we will have a portfolio of 10,000 rooms in the region by 2011," he said on the sidelines of the Global Travel and Tourism Summit on Monday.
In the Middle East, Marriott International is represented by six brands: The Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Renaissance Hotels and 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.
Brands
"We will have a good mix of all of our brands among the new developments. However, JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton will be the dominant brand," he said.
"The Middle East is a very important market for us, where the RevPar [Revenue par available room] is much higher than that of the US. All other markets outside the US are strong.
"The region is a linchpin 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."
With the recent signings involving nine properties and 2,000 rooms, Marriott's Middle East hotel pipeline now stands at 39.
He said, the slowdown in the US, the world's second-biggest tourism market after Europe, has been a big challenge for the tourism industry and for Marriott.
"The slowdown in the US market, especially the health of the airline industry poses the biggest challenge for us," he said.
Marriott International has two new development deals in the UAE. 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.
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