MARRIOTT International has reaffirmed its growth strategy for the Mena region with plans to open 1,500 rooms in the region over the next 12 months.
Today, the group’s Mena portfolio comprises 28 operating hotels, including five Ritz-Carltons, and Marriott intends to launch properties in Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Ghana, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Rwanda, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE by 2016, bringing the total to 40 properties.
“The focus has shifted from recession to recovery and different markets are showing different results,” said Ed Fuller, president and managing director of international lodging for Marriott International.
“We have seen great strengths in Asia and we are continuing to see improvements in Europe and the US. Here in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, which never really went into recession, is steady and Dubai, which felt the recession, is seeing occupancies at some really good levels as well as Egypt, because of its strong leisure market.”
Looking across the brands under Marriott International, Fuller believes that while the luxury brands have been hit during the downturn, performances can differ in different markets.
“Marriott International has brands and a great online support system that enables our hotels to do better in a downturn than those without one. The growth levels on the internet bookings – Marriott has the largest internet sales volume in the world – have continued even in a downturn,” said Fuller.
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Renaissance Doha, City Centre lobby |
“The first quarter of 2010 has seen good results and that speaks to where we are today. The company as a whole has continued its growth. We opened 250 hotels last year and will open 170 this year. We expect, in the next 12 months, to open about 1,500 rooms here in Mena.
“We plan to open three hotels later this year in Qatar – the Renaissance Doha, the Courtyard by Marriott and the Marriott Executive Apartments in Doha. As we move forward into next year, we will open a Renaissance hotel in Tlemcen, Algeria, and a JW Marriott hotel in Tripoli, Libya. Both will be our first properties in their respective countries.”
Further there are two additional properties planned for Algeria – the 227-room Algiers Marriott and the 180-unit Marriott Executive Apartments Algiers, both of which are expected to open in 2012.
Marriott will also open its first property in Rwanda with the 237-room Kigali Marriott Hotel in 2012. In Dubai, the construction on the landmark JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai is on schedule and is due to open in 2012.
According to Fuller, the expansion of the company’s development office in Dubai helped grow Marriott’s focus on Africa as well as the Middle East.
“The dynamic nature of tourism in the Middle East and the strong emergence of Africa as a viable destination for business and leisure travel are evident. We expect both to play an important role in our strategies in the long-term future,” he remarked.
Emerging markets such as India figure high in the company’s development plans with 27 hotels under construction today. “We opened five hotels in India last year and with 27 more properties under development, we believe it to be a strong market for us in the future,” added Fuller.
And Marriott has future plans to bring its moderate-tier brand, Fairfield Inn, to the Middle East.
“Looking ahead, our challenges in some markets are going to be development of people – because we are opening so many managed hotels,” said Fuller.
“In other areas, it will be to continue to focus on expansion and growth. Africa is a new market - one that we still need to learn and get established in and it will continue to be a priority this year.”