Marriott International Expects to More Than Double its Middle East Hotels with New Development Announcements

In Dubai during a whirlwind trip including high-level meetings, visits with company employees and a major speech, the head of Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR) also took the next steps to ultimately more than double the company's hotels in the region as he signed the first of four development transactions in three countries.

In separate ceremonies with Marriott's local development partners, J.W. "Bill" Marriott, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Marriott International, will sign new development agreements that will add to the company's already record-setting pipeline of hotels planned or under construction outside of North America. In the Middle East alone, the company expects to expand its current portfolio of properties from 26 to 65 through 2011. With the signings involving nine properties and 2,000 rooms, Marriott's Middle East hotel pipeline now stands at 39.

Mr. Marriott, who also delivered a major speech today, highlighting the importance of travel and trade to the world economy, said, "The Middle East is not only a rapidly expanding center of commerce, but also a thriving tourist destination. The region is a lynchpin in our company's long-term vision to expand global distribution that supports our business strategy. With these latest agreements, we now have a total of more than 134,000 rooms in our global development pipeline with more than a quarter located outside North America."

In the Middle East, Marriott International is represented by six brands: The Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Renaissance Hotels & Resorts, Courtyard by Marriott and Marriott Executive Apartments. The properties to be added to the Marriott International system also include the first Marriott Vacation Club International resort, the company's timeshare division, in the Middle East.

Following are Marriott's new additions announced today:

Marriott International has reached an agreement with Concord for Touristic Development S.A.E. for a 250 room Marriott resort in Marsa Alam expected to open in 2011.

Marriott International has reached agreement with Fawaz Abdul Aziz Alhokair & Associates Company, LLC for five properties. These include a 250 room Marriott hotel and 50 unit Marriott Executive Apartments in Damman, a 250 room Ritz-Carlton hotel with 100 Ritz-Carlton Residences in Riyadh, and a 220 room Courtyard hotel in Jubail. Each should open by 2011.

Marriott International has two new development deals in the United Arab Emirates. The first with Aldar Properties PJSC for a 411 room Renaissance hotel and 195 room Courtyard hotel in Abu Dhabi with both slated to open in 2011. In a joint venture with Al Futtaim Group, the company expects to open a 320 unit Marriott Vacation Club International resort targeted for 2011 in Dubai Festival City.

Marriott's lodging business model is built around fee streams from managing and franchising hotels for their owners and unit growth. With more than 3,000 hotels and 538,000 rooms in 68 countries, Marriott International is a global lodging leader. The company manages nearly 70 percent of rooms in its luxury and full-service upscale brand segments. These brands include The Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott, Renaissance and Marriott.

Marriott operates a resort ownership business across four brands which include weekly timeshare, fractional and whole ownership opportunities.

Each of the hotels in this Middle East expansion will be managed by Marriott International under long-term agreements.

MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL, Inc. (NYSE: MAR) is a leading lodging company with than 3,000 lodging properties in the United States and 66 other countries and territories. Marriott International operates and franchises hotels under the Marriott, JW Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Residence Inn, Courtyard, TownePlace Suites, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites and Bulgari brand names; develops and operates vacation ownership resorts under the Marriott Vacation Club, Horizons by Marriott Vacation Club, The Ritz-Carlton Club and Grand Residences by Marriott brands; operates Marriott Executive Apartments; provides furnished corporate housing through its Marriott ExecuStay division; and operates conference centers. The company is headquartered in Bethesda, Md., and had approximately 151,000 employees at 2007 year-end. It is ranked as the lodging industry's most admired company and one of the best companies to work for by FORTUNE(R), and has been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with the 2007 Sustained Excellence Award and Partner of the Year since 2004. In fiscal year 2007, Marriott International reported sales from continuing operations of $13 billion.

Source: MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL