Marriott International has announced plans to more than double its portfolio of hotels in Asia between now and 2016.
The group currently has 132 hotels in the region and has agreed deals to open another 143 properties in the next four years.
“We expect to grow dynamically but sustainably in Asia for many more years to come,” said Simon Cooper, Marriott International’s president and managing director in Asia. “While China and India are the driving forces for our business in Asia, we are also seeing growth with new signings and openings in Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam and elsewhere in the region.”
Rendering of the Ritz-Carlton, Wuhan
In China, the group said it expects to open an average of one hotel per month for the next five years. It added that, having established itself in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, it is moving increasingly into opening properties in second-tier and emerging cities.
Before 2016, it expects to be operating in 16 new provinces across the country. These include more remote regions such as Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia, fast-developing inland areas like Sichuan and Hunan, as well as Anhui and Macau.
It will also continue to diversify its portfolio in the country, with the addition of new leisure-based properties, such as a resort in Dali City, the ancient capital of Nanzhao Kingdom in the 8th and 9th century, located in today’s Yunnan Province in Southwestern China.
Rendering of the JW Marriott in Shenyang
In India, the group expects to grow from 15 hotels to more than 50 in the next few years. It has 23 hotels under construction. Next year it plans to introduce a customised version of its Fairfield Inn & Suites brand in the county, under the name Fairfield by Marriott
Nicholas Olczak
