Marriott posts 25% growth for MEA

Marriott International Inc recently announced its performance for Middle East and Africa. The second quarter global results saw a 25% growth in net income over 2012. The Group also announced a 10.6% increase in RevPAR figures across the Middle East and Africa for the same period. Occupancy growth was just two percent while there was an increase of 6.8% in average rates across the region. Alex Kyriakidis, president and managing director of Marriott International, Middle East and Africa, said: “Our strategies, planning and investments have clearly paid off as RevPAR and occupancy figures continue to grow. Regional travel is on the up. We continue to play a significant role in fuelling this growth – several of our major markets have posted strong growth for the second quarter.” Marriott International had a number of key openings during the second quarter, namely: the Renaissance Cairo Mirage City Hotel and The Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi Grand Canal, the first Ritz-Carlton in Abu Dhabi. During the second quarter of this year, Marriott International announced three new property signings, adding a further 1,094 rooms – the 312-room Renaissance Dubai Downtown Hotel will open next year, while the 370-room JW Marriott Hotel Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and 412-room JW Marriott hotel Doha in Qatar will open in 2016 and 2017 respectively. The 352-room Dubai Marriott Zabeel, scheduled to open later this year, will be the first hotel in this region to open under the Travel Brilliantly umbrella. Marriott International is also preparing to open three new hotels in Africa next year – the 104-unit Marriott Executive Apartments Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, 209-room Accra Marriott Hotel in Ghana and the 254-room Kigali Marriott Hotel in Rwanda. This is in addition to re-opening the 307-room JW Marriott Hotel Tripoli in Libya. Source: Travel Daily