Marriott Hotels Planning Major European Expansion

If hotels are the harbinger of a global economic recovery, then conditions may be brightening. As brandchannel has reported over the past several months, a number of hotel chains are launching new hotels and announcing ambitious expansion plans.

Now Marriott International has just announced plans to double its presence in Europe by 2015, increasing its portfolio from 40,000 rooms to 80,000 rooms. Of the Marriott chain's eighteen brands, seven are currently represented in Europe. The expansion in Europe includes some 30 projects.

The Renaissance Moscow Monarch Center Hotel, the Courtyard by Marriott Budapest, and the JW Marriott Hotel Ankara are all expected to be completed this year. Marriott will open its first European Residence Inn, an extended stay brand, in Munich in 2012. 

Additional European expansion will include two new Marriott brands: Edition, a boutique-lifestyle collaboration between Ian Schrager and Marriott, and the Autograph Collection, comprised of independent hotels and resorts that represent luxury properties with distinctive personalities. Marriott intends for the Autograph Collection to compete with Europe's independent, smaller upscale hotels.

Marriott has more than 3,400 properties in 68 countries and reported sales from continuing operations of nearly $11 billion in fiscal year 2009.