Marriott International has announced plans to significantly grow its global portfolio of luxury and lifestyle brands. Accounting for nearly 25 percent of the company’s system-wide pipeline, Marriott expects to add more than 200 luxury and lifestyle hotel projects over the next several years, reflecting over $15 billion of investment by the company’s owners and franchisees.
“The luxury and lifestyle category is stronger than ever and we see demand continuing to rise worldwide,” said Arne Sorenson, president and CEO. “Next generation travelers are poised to comprise more than 60 percent of our business over the next four years, and already represent a broad spectrum of diverse cultures and lifestyles that view travel as an important way to enrich their lives. Our approach to the luxury and lifestyle segment embraces this trend and is shaping our development strategy.”
“The company’s current luxury and lifestyle portfolio totals 449 hotels across eight brands, each offering its own unique personality and distinctive guest experience. We have put the power of Marriott behind the growth of iconic brands such as The Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts, as well as newer brands including EDITION, Autograph Collection and AC Hotels by Marriott. At the same time, the company continues to introduce new brands such as Moxy Hotels, and continues to evolve its Renaissance Hotels brand globally. We are delighted with the success of these tremendous brands, part of our aggressive strategy to lead in the luxury and lifestyle category.”
Also today as part of this segment-wide strategy, Marriott International officially launched its new campaign, #LoveTravels, a multicultural campaign that conveys the company’s commitment to make everyone feel comfortable being who they are, everywhere they travel. The Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts and Renaissance Hotels are all participating in the campaign which features visually powerful images shot by acclaimed photographer Braden Summers that will be displayed as building wraps at five hotels in Washington, D.C., a series of print ads in LGBT media, an online portrait gallery and display ads in cities throughout the U.S.
The breadth of the company’s luxury and lifestyle portfolio is largely represented by the following brands globally:
The Ritz-Carlton opened six properties in 2013, including hotels in Chengdu and Tianjin in China; Aruba; Herzliya, Israel; Almaty, Kazakhstan and Bangalore, India. Most recently, The Ritz-Carlton opened its first hotel in the U.S. since 2010 with the opening of The Ritz-Carlton, Rancho Mirage in Palm Springs, California. Growth plans call for 15 additional hotels between now and by year-end 2016 including in Nanjing, China; Rabat, Morocco; Cairo, Egypt; Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Los Cabos, Mexico; Tunis, Tunisia; Haikou, China; Panama City, Panama; Bali, Indonesia and Macao.
Through an acclaimed partnership with legendary hotelier Ian Schrager, EDITION hotels are stunning microcosms of the world’s top cities. EDITION combines the best in service, food, beverage and entertainment which Ian Schrager is known for with the global reach and operational expertise of Marriott International. Following the highly successful debut of The London EDITION last September, the brand is on target to open in Miami Beach this fall and will debut in New York City’s landmark Clock Tower building in the spring of 2015. Future hotels are also planned for Abu Dhabi (2015), Gurgaon, India (2015), Sanya, China (2015), Bangkok (2016) and West Hollywood (2017), as well as the recently announced Times Square EDITION in New York City (2017).
JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts will debut in Italy in early 2015 on the private island of Sacca Sessola, a short boat ride from the stunning city of Venice. In addition, the brand is on schedule to open 23 new hotels in the next two years, growing from 64 to 87 hotels in 29 countries by the end of 2016. Centered in the idea of well-being, JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts offers a collection of partnerships with leading luxury brands in nutrition, culinary, art, culture, and wellness as part of the brand’s commitment to delivering a deeper and more meaningful luxury guest experience at each of its hotels worldwide.
Autograph Collection continues to grow rapidly having reached its 60th hotel milestone in less than three years. Exactly like nothing else and the fastest brand launch in the history of the industry, the unique collection allows independent hotels the opportunity to tap into Marriott International’s powerful sales and marketing platforms including Marriott.com and the award winning Marriott Rewards guest loyalty program. With twenty hotels expected to join this year, the portfolio is an evolving group of passionately independent hotel experiences ranging from iconic properties such as The Algonquin Hotel in New York City to the luxurious 15 room Kessler Canyon hunting lodge in the mountains of Colorado.
Making its debut in world class destinations including Santiago, Chile and the south of France, Renaissance Hotels is on track to open nine hotels in 2014. With five hotels launched thus far and four additional locations on schedule to open, the portfolio plans to celebrate more than 160 hotels in 37 countries by year-end. Renaissance Hotels is designed around making business travel fun again and helping its guests to discover unexpected surprises with every stay, whether it’s listening to live music in the lobbies, taking in a pop-up art exhibit or simply enjoying handcrafted cocktails and locally inspired foods. It is a sophisticated hotel brand whose mission is to encourage today’s modern business traveler to Live Life to DiscoverSM and make every business trip an opportunity to experience a new story that can be shared.
AC Hotels by Marriott, a brand concept launched in Europe in 2011 as a joint venture with Spanish hotelier Antonio Catalan, plans to open its first hotel in the U.S. this fall at the Cotton Exchange Building in New Orleans, quickly followed by locations in Kansas City and Miami in early 2015. AC Hotels by Marriott currently offers a portfolio of more than 72 hotels in Spain, Italy, Portugal and France. Inspired by the runways and fashion houses of Milan, the brand features simple, clean and crisp lines, marrying sophisticated European style with approachable design for a distinctly urban feel. A sleek and modern approach to design combined with unique elements which embody the character of each destination; growth plans for the brand include more than 30 hotels set to open within the next three years throughout the U.S. and Latin America.
Developed following extensive research and created with the next generation traveler in mind, Moxy Hotels expects to debut in Europe this September at Milan’s Malpensa Airport in Italy. A fresh and innovative lifestyle hotel brand combining stylish design and approachable service at a reasonable price, Moxy Hotels is one of the newest and most exciting brands within the category. The brand is set to open additional locations in key cities throughout Europe by the end of 2016 including Munich, Berlin, and Frankfurt in Germany; Oslo, Norway; London, United Kingdom and Aberdeen, Scotland. Early growth estimates predict the brand could reach 150 hotels within the next ten years.
