The Marriott International Middle East lodging portfolio will increase by 54 per cent over the next 36 months as the company adds 16 hotels offering 3,515 rooms through 2010.
"Middle East tourism is expected to grow significantly over the next decade. We intend to share in this growth by offering a wide range of hotel choices for luxury, deluxe, upper moderate and extended stay travelers," said Ed Fuller, president and managing director of international lodging for Marriott.
"Recently the World Travel & Tourism Council predicted that tourism will claim about 10 per cent of all Middle East investment each year through 2016. It is clear that local investors and developers have recognized that travellers prefer our hotel brands and that we have the strongest distribution channels and marketing muscle to virtually ensure a hotel being a success from day one," he added.
The Middle East growth is part of Marriott International’s global strategy to increase its hotel portfolio by 85,000 to 100,000 rooms over the next three years with nearly a third of this growth coming from outside the US and Canada.
Half of Marriott International’s new Middle Eastern hotel openings will be in the UAE. In 2009, the company will open and manage eight hotels in the UAE and will make its entry into the emirates of Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah. These include the 300-room Ras Al Khaimah Marriott Resort & Spa, the 248-room Sharjah Marriott Resort & Spa, the 125-unit Marriott Executive Apartments Sharjah, the 170-room JW Marriott Hotel Dubai Lifestyle City, the 152-room Courtyard by Marriott Dubai Lifestyle City, the 46-unit Marriott Executive Apartments Dubai Lifestyle City, the 356-room Renaissance Dubai Motorcity and the 250-room Courtyard by Marriott Dubai Motorcity.
“When these eight hotels open in the UAE, the Marriott International lodging portfolio in the country will more than double in terms of properties and rooms,” Fuller said.
Also opening in 2009 are the previously announced 171-unit Marriott Executive Apartments Cairo Nile Dolphin and the 300-room JW Marriott Aqaba Resort in Jordan.
Other Marriott International hotels opening in the Middle East over the next 36 months are the following previously announced properties: the 190-unit Bahrain Marriott Executive Apartments (2007), the 257-room Renaissance Doha Hotel (2008), the 204-room Courtyard by Marriott Doha (2008), the 123-unit Marriott Executive Apartments Doha (2008), the 323-room Renaissance Bahrain Amwaj Island Hotel (2008) and the 300-room Renaissance Dubai Marina (2010).