LOS ANGELES—Marriott International checked off a number of significant accomplishments in 2017, namely, further integrating the properties and brands gained in its Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide acquisition, and record pipeline growth.
EVP and CFO Leeny Oberg spoke with HNN during this year’s Americas Lodging Investment Summit about what Marriott has achieved so far and provided some insight into where the company is headed. Although she was unable to go into full detail about 2017 and 2018 performance with the 2017 Q4 earnings call just weeks away, she did share some highlights for the company.
“I think we’re particularly pleased with the combination of the success that we had in integrating the acquisition of Starwood and really making great progress there as well as business as usual,” she said. “So in addition to strong performance at the hotels and with RevPAR growth around the world, we also were able to make just terrific strides adding even more rooms to our pipeline.”
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Marriott added 125,000 more rooms to its pipeline through signings in 2017, she said.
It’s been rewarding to watch the continued strength of the luxury pipeline, Oberg said. In looking at hotels either open or under construction, Marriott has a larger luxury portfolio than its next four largest competitors combined.
“The demand for those brands is terrific,” she said.
Similarly, Marriott is seeing a record number of select-service signings around the world, she said.
“The growth in the select-service portfolio outside the U.S. is particularly encouraging as we look at the strength of those 11 brands,” she said.
Watch the video below to hear more of what Marriott’s CFO had to say.