Press Release
April 10, 2001
RIO DE JANEIRO -- Building on its extraordinary growth in the region over the past decade, Marriott International
(NYSE:MAR) announced that it plans to open nine additional properties in Latin America and the Caribbean over the
next 36 months.
These new properties will be located in seven countries and will span five lodging brands. They will include the
regions:
Speaking at a press conference here today marking the Grand Opening of the 245-room Rio de Janeiro Marriott
Hotel, J.W. Marriott Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Marriott International, said, “We are on-target
with our development strategy for the region. In the past decade, we have opened hotels or have hotels under construction
in virtually every major capital city in the region. We are now expanding our resort portfolio in key leisure destinations
and are introducing our Courtyard and Executive Apartments lodging brands.
“In addition to the Rio de Janeiro hotel, we are especially pleased to be represented by two new, sensational resorts
in Costa do Sauipe, Brazil’s exciting, destination for leisure travelers. Representing our Marriott and Renaissance
lodging brands, we are confident that these two properties will have enormous appeal for vacationers throughout
the South American continent and abroad.”
He said that by the end of 2004, the Marriott International lodging portfolio in the region will grow to 41 hotels,
offering 13,259 rooms, and six lodging brands in 21 countries and territories. This growth rate represents a 22
percent increase in the number of hotels, an 18 percent increase in the number of rooms and the addition of two
countries as compared with current levels and will rank Marriott International among the leading lodging companies
operating in the region. In 1990, the Marriott International lodging portfolio in the region consisted of the 450-room
Marriott CasaMagna Resort in Cancun and the 433-room Marriott CasaMagna Resort in Puerto Vallarta, both of which
are in Mexico.
Mr. Marriott said that the company’s Latin American growth plans are part of its overall strategy, which will add
175,000 rooms to its global portfolio over a five-year period (1999-2003). At yearend 2000, the company had more
than 400 lodging properties (just over 70,000 rooms) under construction or approved for development. Over 80 percent
of the rooms associated with the company’s five-year goal are open or under development.
He said that in 2000, Marriott International added a record number of new rooms. “Nearly 30 percent of these room
openings represented conversions to our brands, demonstrating owners’ and franchisees’ preferences to be part of
a worldwide lodging family. At yearend, even after opening 17,000 rooms in the fourth quarter, our lodging pipeline
was slightly over 70,000 rooms. We continue to gain market share worldwide and are optimistic about our future
prospect.”
The new Marriott International hotels scheduled to open in the region over the next 36 months are:
Two hotels will be reflagged to the Marriott brand:
“We are excited by the outlook for Latin American tourism, especially South America,” Mr. Marriott said. “Travel
agents in North America report that the region has been growing in popularity. In fact, this winter, nine out of
10 travelers who traveled to South America visited Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Ecuador and Chile, all of which are
now home to a Marriott hotel.” He added that travel to Brazil attracted two out of every three travelers to the
region.
In South America, the Marriott International lodging portfolio is currently represented by hotels in Buenos Aires,
Costa do Sauipe, Lima, Quito, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Santiago.
MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL, INC. (NYSE:MAR) is a leading worldwide hospitality company with over 2,200 operating units
in the United States and 59 other countries and territories. Marriott Lodging operates and franchises hotels under
the Marriott, Renaissance, Residence Inn, Courtyard, TownePlace Suites, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites and Ramada
International brand names; develops and operates vacation ownership resorts under the Marriott, Ritz-Carlton and
Horizons brands; operates Marriott Executive Apartments; provides furnished corporate housing through its ExecuStay
by Marriott division; and operates conference centers. Other Marriott businesses include senior living communities
and services, wholesale food distribution, procurement services and The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. The
company is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has approximately 153,000 employees. In fiscal year 2000, Marriott
International reported systemwide sales of $19.8 billion. For more information or reservations, please visit our
web site at www.marriott.com.
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Contact:
June Farrell Tel:(301) 380-7796 Fax:(301) 380-4684 E-mail: june.farrell@marriott.com
SOURCE: Marriott International