Marriott International outlined a series of ambitious expansion goals for Europe on the heels of the company's completed acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide last year.
At the 20th International Hotel Investment Forum in Berlin Tuesday, the company announced that it expects to significantly increase the size of its European portfolio across every segment in the industry.
Despite already leading the way in terms of boasting the largest and most diverse luxury and full-service portfolio on the continent, Marriott plans to continue expansion in those areas by speeding up growth on its luxury brands and collections, including The Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, Autograph Collection Hotels and Tribute Portfolio.
"Now, as we look to the future, we have set ambitious goals for 2020," said Marriott International, Europe, president and managing director Amy McPherson in a statement. "We plan to expand our lead in the luxury and full-service segments, to have the largest portfolio in the upscale tier and to win with millennials in the affordable lifestyle category."
The company will also look to debut Delta Hotels by Marriott in Europe and expand it rapidly, targeting 4,000 opened or signed rooms for the brand in Europe by 2020.
What's more, Marriott is seeking to triple the number of signed deals for its W Hotels brand on the continent by the end of the decade. Already this year it has announced signings in Prague and Budapest.
Other brands poised to expand quickly include Courtyard Hotels, Residence Inn and Element. Marriott will look to grow Courtyard's presence in Europe by over 12,000 opened and signed rooms by 2020, and expand in the extended-stay segment by adding more than 30 open or signed hotels to the Residence Inn and Element brands.
Expected 2017 Courtyard openings include Paris, Dresden and Edinburgh.
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Marriott is also eyeing dramatic growth in the upscale segment over the next three years as it takes aim at leading Europe in that category. The company plans to double its upscale portfolio, which includes the AC Hotels, Aloft Hotels and Four Points by Sheraton brands, on the continent in opened and signed rooms by 2020 to go from fifth (currently) to first in just a few years.
Marriott's affordable lifestyle brand Moxy Hotels will also drive much of the company's expansion in Europe in the coming years. Moxy currently boasts more than 1,000 open rooms in Europe and over 9,000 in its pipeline, but the company has set a target of signing an additional 22,000 rooms for the brand by 2020, 18,000 of which are anticipated to open in the next three years.
Tuesday's announcement comes in the wake of a historic year for Marriott in which it became the world's largest hotel company.
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