The new hotels will provide 18 160 rooms across five brands with multiple openings in Thailand, China and India - this will add a total of 59 hotels to Marriot's Asia-Pacific portfolio by the end of 2010 - this growth will add about a third more hotels and almost 50 percent more rooms to Marriott's lodging presence in Asia-Pacific over the next 36 months.

Announced today are six hotels in India and Thailand representing the company's Marriott Executive Apartments brand for extended stay travelers and its deluxe, upscale Renaissance brand. All six will operate under long-term management contracts.

Marriott Executive Apartments:
• 300-unit Sukhumvit Park, Bangkok—Marriott Executive Apartments (2008)
• 100-unit Benchasiri Place, Bangkok—Marriott Executive Apartments (2010)

Renaissance Hotels & Resorts:
• 333-room Renaissance Bangkok Ratchaprasong Hotel (2009)
• 175-room Renaissance Phuket Resort & Spa (2010)
• 278-room Renaissance Bangalore High Grounds Hotel (2010)
• 250-room Renaissance Bangkok Sukhumvit Hotel (2010)

These hotels join 53 previously announced properties that are now under construction and are expected to open during the same time period in China, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and New Zealand. Currently, the Marriott International hotel portfolio in the region consists of 90 operating properties and five brands offering 31,618 rooms in 14 countries.

In addition, the company's Ritz-Carlton brand portfolio in the region offers 11 hotels and resorts, providing 3,786 rooms in seven countries. Twelve additional Ritz-Carlton properties are scheduled to open through 2010 in China, India, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macao and Indonesia.  Marriott's luxury Bulgari Hotels & Resorts brand also has a hotel in the region, in Bali.

"We are thrilled by our dynamic pipeline in the region," said Ed Fuller, president and managing director of international lodging for Marriott International. 

"Our ability to have so many hotels coming on line in Asia-Pacific over the next 36 months rests, in part, on the success that our existing portfolio is enjoying in the region.

Each of our hotels in Asia-Pacific ranks at or near the top of its competitive set in customer preference, guest satisfaction and operating results.  When developers consider a hotel management company for their asset, they know Marriott will deliver.

"We've been operating in Asia since 1989 and have a proven track record of success," he continued. "Our goal is to appeal to a wide range of travelers, both those visiting the region from other parts of the world as well as those who are traveling intra-regionally.

We are confident that the portfolio of lodging choices we are developing with our local investors and partners will be recognized and appreciated for their cosmopolitan amenities, sophistication, state-of-the-art connectivity and good value—whether at the luxury, upscale, or upper-moderate tiers of the travel continuum. We're deeply gratified by the acceptance all our hotel brands are enjoying among travelers in Asia."

Marriott Soon to Be Largest International Hotel Operator in Phuket
Mr. Fuller noted that since the beginning of this year, Marriott International has signed 10 projects in Thailand alone.  "We're excited by the fact that, with the three Courtyard properties and a Renaissance resort coming on line and joining our JW Marriott resort and our Marriott Vacation Club community in Phuket, we will soon be the largest international hotel operator in Asia's premier resort destination."

Marriott to Add 20 Hotels in China Through 2010
The Macao Studio City Marriott Hotel, the first Courtyard by Marriott branded hotel in Hong Kong and the opening of the JW Marriott Hotel Beijing, Marriott's symbolic 3,000th hotel milestone, and the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Beijing all highlight Marriott's tremendous growth now underway in China.

"We opened our first hotel in the region, the JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong, in 1989," said Mr. Fuller. "By the end of 2010, we will have 56 branded properties in China with many more on the drawing board."

Speaking of the Macao Studio City Marriott Hotel, Mr. Fuller said, "We are thrilled to be part of this spectacular development which is bringing Las Vegas-style entertainment and hospitality to Macao. Coupled with our stellar reputation in the global meeting, incentive and convention market, the range and scope of facilities the Macao Studio City complex will offer give the Macao Studio City Marriott Hotel enormous potential for success. We have no doubt Macao will be the next hot destination for incentive and leisure travelers."

He said that Marriott will have 11 hotels opened in Beijing in time for next summer's Olympic Games.

Marriott's Portfolio in India to More Than Triple by Year-End 2010
In the next 36 months, Marriott will add 16 hotels to its existing portfolio of six hotels in India. The additions encompass three luxury JW Marriott hotels, a Ritz-Carlton hotel, two deluxe Renaissance hotels, one first-class Marriott hotel, eight mid-priced Courtyard by Marriott properties and one Marriott Executive Apartments facility for extended stay travelers.