It's no secret that 2016 will go down as a monumental year for Marriott International. After all, last year saw the hotel giant complete its acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide to become the world's largest hotel company, boasting nearly 1.2 million rooms around the globe.
On Monday, Marriott confirmed that 2016 was a historic year for global expansion, providing some impressive numbers to back it up.
Not counting the rooms gained through September's Starwood acquisition, Marriott opened a record 55,000 new rooms over the course of 2016.
What's more, Marriott and recently-acquired Starwood combined to sign 880 new hotel deals comprising almost 136,000 rooms. Globally, Marriott opened more than 400 hotels featuring more than 68,000 rooms last year, surpassing 6,000 total operated or franchised hotels.
Citing data from STR, Marriott's executive vice president and global chief development officer Tony Capuano pointed out that as of December 2016 the company's North American pipeline accounted for more than one-third (36 percent) of industry rooms under construction and 14 percent of industry rooms open.
"For the first time in Marriott's history, more than half the rooms in our development pipeline are outside of North America, with 44 percent of those rooms under construction," added Capuano.
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In the luxury segment, Marriott currently boasts a 29 percent share of the industry's room pipeline, signing 236 new luxury and upper-upscale properties in 2016 and opening more than 100. As for select-service hotels, Marriott combined with Starwood to open 275 new properties and sign more than 640 new hotel deals last year.
In a statement, Marriott president and CEO Arne Sorenson said that "2016 will go down as a remarkable year in Marriott's history."
"We completed the acquisition of Starwood and posted record growth that underscores the strong preference that owners and franchisees have for our unmatched brand portfolio, best-in-class sales and marketing platforms, and the most dedicated associates in the industry."
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