Last year, Marriott International hit a record for organic rooms signings and ended the year with a record global pipeline.
In 2018, the company signed management and franchise agreements for 816 properties with 125,000 rooms while also opening nearly 500 properties with more than 80,000 rooms around the world.
As of December 31, Marriott’s global footprint grew to more than 6,900 properties and more than 1.3 million rooms in 130 countries and territories, with Marriott brands making their debut in Finland, New Zealand, Lithuania, Mali and Ukraine. The pipeline also grew to a record 478,000 rooms.
“With the world’s largest pipeline of hotels, a growing loyalty base of 120 million members and a compelling value proposition to our partners, Marriott is positioned to fuel expansion further in 2019,” said Tony Capuano, Marriott’s EVP and global chief development officer, in a statement
The year also delivered a new record for organic international room signings in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and for organic hotel signings in Asia-Pacific, according to the company, which noted the signings exceeded historic levels without the acquired deals from the 2016 Starwood acquisition.
Marriott’s luxury portfolio, consisting of the The Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, JW Marriott and Edition brand, also grew significantly in 2018. The company signed 29 luxury properties with 6,200 rooms across six brands, including the The Ritz-Carlton, Shanghai Hongqiao, a St. Regis in Dubai, and a three-brand luxury project in the Dominican Republic.
According to the latest STR data, Marriott’s luxury pipeline is larger than its next three competitors combined.