Marriott's hotel pipeline to create 150,000 jobs

Marriot International is expecting have one million rooms open or under development around the world by the end of 2015, with these properties set to create 150,000 new hotel jobs.

The hotel operator set out the ambitious target on the eve of the World Economic Forum in Davos, pointing out that, when open, the hotels under development will have generated more than $50 billion in real estate investment globally by Marriott’s owner partners.

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Marriott president and chief executive officer Arne Sorenson said: “In partnership with our owners in more than 100 countries and territories where we operate or have new hotels in development, Marriott is making a meaningful contribution to economic opportunity.

“The growth in Marriott’s portfolio is truly a global trend, with strong expansion in the US and in many markets around the world.

“In 2014 alone, Marriott signed agreements for more than 650 hotels and 100,000 rooms to be added to its worldwide system over the next few years, a signing pace of nearly two new hotel deals a day. This anticipated investment by our owner partners in Marriott-affiliated hotels will show their confidence in our brands, which reflects the preference our brands have with customers.”

In today’s statement ahead of the World Economic Forum, highlighted its growth in the Asia-Pacific region, where it expects to double its presence with its current pipeline, and in the Middle East and Africa, where it expects “robust growth” could expand by more than 75%.

Tony Capuano, executive vice president and chief development officer at Marriott, detailed how the operator opened more than 46,000 rooms worldwide in 2014 and also signed agreements for over 650 hotels, with 100,000 rooms, over the course of the year.

This build the company’s total development pipeline to nearly 240,000 rooms which, when open will expand Marriott’s presence from the current 80 countries to over 100.

“Our success has been boosted by a number of factors, including our continental leadership structure that connects our local development teams with development partners and lenders, the continuity of our senior development team, and the introduction of new brands which accounted for nearly 40% of our new room openings this past year,” added Capuano.

“We and our hotel owners are excited about our new brands, including Moxy, AC by Marriott, Autograph and Edition, and our newly acquired Protea brand in Africa."