World famous hotel chain Marriott International has planned to add 26 new hotels to its existing properties in India. A senior executive of company said that the addition was a part of company's expansion plan. The new hotels, with a total capacity of 6000 rooms, will be an addition to the 2000-room capacity across the seven properties that are currently managed by Marriott in India. The hotel chain manages property owned by other groups, by using its hotel expertise.
Rajeev Menon, Area Vice-President at Marriott, said that they would open three hotels under their 'Courtyard by Marriott' brand in November 2009 and another eight hotels, including three JW Marriott hotels, would be opened in year 2010. He added that 15 other projects were under various stages of development. He shared that company's four-star property brand 'Courtyard by Marriott' would be promoted, as 16 such hotels were under construction and two were already functional. He further added that five of these hotels would open in early 2010.
The officials at Marriott said that recession had taken their revenues down by 20 per cent this year, but they believed that the business would improve with the higher occupancy by domestic travelers. Marriott is also focusing on outbound business from India, to showcase new destinations. Another company official added that business guests accounted for 90 per cent of Marriott's sales from India, with a new interest growing in longer haul destinations, such as Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela.
