Arne Sorenson NEW - EDITED

At last week’s America’s Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) in Los Angeles, Marriott International, announced that it had the fastest-growing new-construction pipeline in the industry, worldwide, in 2013, based on information published by Smith Travel Research.

In addition, Marriott reported that it signed more than one hotel project per day in 2013, totalling a record 387 hotels and 67,000 rooms. The company opened nearly 26,000 new rooms in 2013 and, given its strong pipeline, expects new hotel openings to accelerate in 2014 and 2015.

Marriott International’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Arne Sorenson, (pictured) said fuelling this success was Marriott’s extensive line-up of 18 brands, the broadest in the lodging industry, including its luxury and lifestyle portfolio, which accounts for nearly 25 per cent of the company’s overall pipeline.

“Our luxury and lifestyle portfolio of 438 hotels across [our] brands is robust,” he said.

“The Ritz-Carlton is recognised as one of the world’s most iconic luxury brands and is expanding outside the U.S. At the same time, we are rapidly growing new brands such as Edition, Moxy Hotels, AC Hotels by Marriott and Autograph Collection, all brand innovations that position us well with customers looking for a different type of experience.”

In 2013, Marriott increased its total development pipeline by over 30 per cent. At year-end 2013, Marriott had more than 195,000 rooms under development across five continents, compared to 176,000 rooms at the end of the third quarter and 143,000 rooms just a year ago. At year-end 2013, the company’s global pipeline included 72,000 hotel rooms under construction, 83,000 rooms signed but not yet under construction, 11,000 rooms awaiting conversion to one of Marriott’s brands, and 29,000 rooms for projects that have been approved for development but not yet signed.

“Staying focused on our strategy of global growth and brand differentiation has paid off for Marriott and its owners and franchisees,” said Sorenson.

“We look forward to opening even more hotels in 2014 and beyond, introducing Marriott and its brands to new guests and welcoming loyal customers to new and exciting locations across the globe.”

In the Asia Pacific region, Marriott expects to open a hotel every week across 10 different brands, doubling in size, reaching 330 hotels with more than 96,000 rooms across 16 countries by 2016. In 2013, Marriott signed agreements to add 78 new hotels and more than 22,000 rooms in the Asia Pacific region, an industry-leading pace.