Marriott International posted a strong performance at its Middle East and Africa properties in the second quarter amid its expansion in the region.
Even as other international hotel chains such as InterContinental Hotels Group and Hilton also reported buoyant earnings in the region, unrest in Egypt and elsewhere and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome fears in Saudi Arabia were a concern among the operators.
Marriott has nine hotels in the pipeline in the UAE scheduled to come online between now and 2017, with a total of 1,750 rooms. Five of them are in Dubai, and the rest are in Abu Dhabi. The Residence Inn by Marriott Kuwait City is scheduled to open next month and Residence Inn by Marriott Jazan in Saudi Arabia will also open in October.
During the three months to June, the UAE, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia offset lower results in Egypt for Marriott. The US hotel chain’s revenue per available room in the Middle East and Africa increased by 3.9 per cent as occupancy rates grew by 4.4 per cent in the period. The company did not provide the actual figures.
The Nasdaq-listed group manages 155 properties with 23,000 rooms across brands such as Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott, Protea and Courtyard by Marriott in the region.
It also exited nine properties accounting for 1,134 rooms around the world, including the Taba Heights Marriott on the Red Sea at the conclusion of a management contract.
Africa is considered a new frontier among hoteliers with Hilton, Starwood and IHG also in the fray as economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to touch 5.5 per cent this year from 4.9 per cent in 2013, according to the IMF.
In April, Marriott paid US$200 million for Protea Hospitality Holding and its 113 properties, accounting for 10,016 rooms.
That month it opened Protea Hotel Lusaka Tower Lusaka in Zambia and earlier this month the Protea Hotel Select Ikeja in Lagos.
Globally, the chain added 162 properties with 18,729 rooms in the second quarter, including those from the Protea transaction.
Its global pipeline comprises 1,300 properties with 215,000 rooms.
“Our pipeline in the Middle East and Africa is 35 per cent ahead of last year,” said Arne Sorenson, the president and chief executive of Marriott International, while announcing the second-quarter results last month. “Even excluding the Protea deal, we have new full-service deals in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and markets in Sub-Saharan Africa.”
Marriott manages 4,000 properties in 78 countries and territories.
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