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Marriott’s Asia-Pacific growth trajectory
The Marriott hotel chain is now on the growth path after its $US14 billion acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.
It’s particularly so in the Asia-Pacific.
Marriott International managing director and president, Asia-Pacific, Craig Smith’s work load will go from managing 200 regional hotels a year ago to 600 hotels by the end of this year.
Over the long term, he plans to run 30-40 Marriott-branded hotels in Sydney from a base of five at present. A soon-to-be announced new-build, five-star 400-room hotel in the Sydney CBD will add to the portfolio. Also in the pipeline is a second property for Sydney.
One thing Hong Kong based Mr Smith has ruled out however is that the world’s largest hotel company is looking to acquire the listed Mantra Group.
“It is not true today,” said Mr Smith told The Australian.
“Our options are always open, we are a large company looking to grow. I was on the phone with our head of mergers and acquisitions (in Washington DC) earlier and it is not true to my knowledge, and it would be hard to happen without my knowledge. If it happened without my knowledge I should probably think about putting my resume out very quickly.”
The Asia-Pacific is Marriott’s growth engine.
He pointed out that of the 30 brands Marriott controls following its merger with Starwood, 20 operate in the Asia-Pacific region.
“We may not bring all 30 brands to this part of the world,” Mr Smith said.
He said the Ritz Carlton Hotels were big drawcards in Asia. As a result, Melbourne and Perth would soon get Ritz Carlton Hotels.
“The hotel locations in Perth and Melbourne are phenomenal,” he said
Not would there be a problem putting differently branded Marriott hotels next to each other. They each have different markets. “You can place a Courtyard next to a Four Points and they still sell to different clientele,’’ he said.
by Leon Gettler, March 31st 2017
