Luxury hotels will become Marriott's fastest growing segment
Wealthiest demographics are growing very fast, like in China and Russia,
they will become increasingly important.
How do students make themselves more competitive in the job market? Try to equip yourself with the knowledge to excel in this segment, read up on the articles in the luxury studies category. There are 207 articles posted, how many have you read?
Luxury hotels will become the fastest-growing business for Marriott International Inc., a U.S. company that has its roots in budget lodging, President Arne Sorenson said.
“This segment will grow faster than the rest of our business,” Sorenson, who is also Marriott’s chief operating officer, said in an interview yesterday at the company’s Bethesda, Maryland-based headquarters.
Marriott, the owner of mid-priced brands such as Courtyard and Residence Inn, has added upscale locations to capture that sector’s higher profit margins as the economy improves. The company announced a new luxury brand last week, the Autograph Collection, through which it expects to add as many as 100 independent hotels as operators struggle with a travel slump.
“There’s talk about a return to simpler things but that talk always happens during recessions,” Sorenson said. “The fact is, the wealthiest demographics are growing very fast, like in China and Russia. They will become increasingly important.”
The company plans to open its first two hotels under the new boutique brand Edition, a partnership with developer Ian Schrager, and two Ritz-Carlton hotels in Hong Kong and Shanghai next year. Through Edition, Marriott eventually expects to add another 100 hotels to its operations, Sorenson said.
Fees Decline
Marriott is seeking expansion opportunities after third- quarter revenue from franchise fees dropped 7.4 percent to $100 million and management fees slid 19 percent to $116 million. Occupancy in the U.S. dropped to 57 percent this year through September from 63 percent a year earlier, according to Smith Travel Research Inc.
Marriott is also considering acquiring brands, particularly in areas where the company is “underrepresented” such as in southern Europe, Sorenson said.
Separately, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer J.W. Marriott Jr. said he was seeing early signs of a pickup in travel but doesn’t expect substantial economic recovery in the near future.
“I don’t think the economy is going to get better for a while until we solve the unemployment problem,” Marriott Jr. said today during a question-and-answer session at The Economic Club in Washington.
Marriott Jr. voiced disapproval of Washington lawmakers who have criticized lavish business travel, causing what he called “a blanket of despair and dark clouds over the industry.”
He said he backed a congressional bill that would help promote the U.S. as a destination to international visitors. The number of foreign travelers has stagnated since 2000, Marriott Jr. said.
The company opened its first hotel, the 365-room Twin Bridges Motor Hotel in Arlington, Virginia, in 1957, according to Marriott’s Web site.
Marriott fell 59 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $26.40 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has climbed 37 percent this year.
Source:
Bloomberg
they will become increasingly important.
How do students make themselves more competitive in the job market? Try to equip yourself with the knowledge to excel in this segment, read up on the articles in the luxury studies category. There are 207 articles posted, how many have you read?
Luxury hotels will become the fastest-growing business for Marriott International Inc., a U.S. company that has its roots in budget lodging, President Arne Sorenson said.“This segment will grow faster than the rest of our business,” Sorenson, who is also Marriott’s chief operating officer, said in an interview yesterday at the company’s Bethesda, Maryland-based headquarters.
Marriott, the owner of mid-priced brands such as Courtyard and Residence Inn, has added upscale locations to capture that sector’s higher profit margins as the economy improves. The company announced a new luxury brand last week, the Autograph Collection, through which it expects to add as many as 100 independent hotels as operators struggle with a travel slump.
“There’s talk about a return to simpler things but that talk always happens during recessions,” Sorenson said. “The fact is, the wealthiest demographics are growing very fast, like in China and Russia. They will become increasingly important.”
The company plans to open its first two hotels under the new boutique brand Edition, a partnership with developer Ian Schrager, and two Ritz-Carlton hotels in Hong Kong and Shanghai next year. Through Edition, Marriott eventually expects to add another 100 hotels to its operations, Sorenson said.
Fees Decline
Marriott is seeking expansion opportunities after third- quarter revenue from franchise fees dropped 7.4 percent to $100 million and management fees slid 19 percent to $116 million. Occupancy in the U.S. dropped to 57 percent this year through September from 63 percent a year earlier, according to Smith Travel Research Inc.
Marriott is also considering acquiring brands, particularly in areas where the company is “underrepresented” such as in southern Europe, Sorenson said.
Separately, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer J.W. Marriott Jr. said he was seeing early signs of a pickup in travel but doesn’t expect substantial economic recovery in the near future.
“I don’t think the economy is going to get better for a while until we solve the unemployment problem,” Marriott Jr. said today during a question-and-answer session at The Economic Club in Washington.
Marriott Jr. voiced disapproval of Washington lawmakers who have criticized lavish business travel, causing what he called “a blanket of despair and dark clouds over the industry.”
He said he backed a congressional bill that would help promote the U.S. as a destination to international visitors. The number of foreign travelers has stagnated since 2000, Marriott Jr. said.
The company opened its first hotel, the 365-room Twin Bridges Motor Hotel in Arlington, Virginia, in 1957, according to Marriott’s Web site.
Marriott fell 59 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $26.40 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has climbed 37 percent this year.
Source:
Bloomberg
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