Skift Take
Marriott falls in line with other hotels that tend to skew their brands upwards in foreign countries with a plan to develop its most luxurious brands to cater to the countries’ rising middle class.
Leading global hotel operator Marriott International, Inc. is on track to double its portfolio in Europe from 40,000 rooms to 80,000 rooms by 2015. Marriott is fuelling much of its growth in Europe with a strong focus on new development in Russia & CIS and today announced it will grow its existing portfolio in the region by more than 50 percent to more than 30 hotels open by 2015.
Marriott plans to build a second hotel in addition to this one in Yerevan, Armenia. Photo by Arthur Chapman.
McPherson added, “Russia also represents a tremendous opportunity for the travel sector. One of the world’s fastest growing outbound travel markets, the country is now Marriott’s fourth largest source market for travel in Europe fuelled by a rising middle class with growing discretionary income. And with the robust growth here, we expect to see strong demand for travel in to Russia as well for both business and leisure travellers alike.”