Marriott sees 10.7% MidEast RevPAR rise in Q2

Hotel giant Marriott International's Middle East operations have outpaced those elsewhere in the world in the second quarter of 2012.

The company said comparable system-wide revenue per available room (RevPAR) increased 10.7 percent in the MENA region compared to 6.7 percent worldwide.

In a statement, Marriott also said it hotels in the region saw a 7.6 percent increase in occupancy in Q2.

However, the company said it expects RevPAR growth in the Middle East to soften during the rest of 2012, particularly in the luxury sector.

Arne M Sorenson, president and chief executive officer of Marriott International, said: "In the second quarter, our business performed well in most markets around the world."

He added that the company's development pipeline totalled 115,000 rooms at the end of the second quarter.

"While we added 8,000 rooms to our pipeline in the second quarter, new hotel construction delays in the Middle East, Asia and Mexico pushed some openings to 2013. We now expect to open 20,000 to 25,000 rooms worldwide in 2012... and 90,000 to 105,000 rooms during the three-year period from 2012 to 2014."

Marriott added 29 new properties (5,058 rooms) to its worldwide lodging portfolio in the second quarter, including the Courtyard by Marriott Riyadh Diplomatic Quarter and the Marriott Executive Apartments Riyadh.

Marriott's revenues totalled nearly $2.8bn in the second quarter compared to adjusted revenues of $2.6bn for the second quarter of 2011.

General, administrative and other expenses for the quarter totalled $160m, compared to adjusted expenses of $140m in the year-ago quarter.

The company said it expects to see comparable systemwide REVPAR of 6-8 percent in the third quarter of 2012 worldwide.