Marriott plans to add hotels, workers

Marriott International, the largest publicly traded US lodging chain, said it plans to open more hotels and add workers even as growth in its home market eases and Europe struggles with the regional debt crisis. The Bethesda, Maryland-based company plans to hire as many as 10,000 workers in the US as it opens 150 hotels in the country this year, chairman Bill Marriott said. US employers added the fewest workers in a year in May as the jobless rate rose. “The employment numbers that came out last week were very disappointing,” Marriott said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Hong Kong. “If people lose faith in the economy and business confidence goes down in the US because of the jobs situation, it will go very soft.” Marriott said the recovery of the US economy and the European crisis are his biggest concerns for his business. Treasuries rallied yesterday, driving 10-year yields below 1.50 per cent for the first time, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average erased its 2012 gain after last week’s job data. Marriott’s shares declined to a three-month low.US payrolls climbed by 69,000 last month, less than the most-pessimistic forecast in a Bloomberg News survey, after a revised 77,000 gain in April that was smaller than initially estimated, Labour Department figures showed last week. The median projection called for a 150,000 May advance. The jobless rate rose to 8.2 per cent from 8.1 per cent. Acquisitions Marriott, which last week agreed to buy Gaylord Entertainment’s hotel brand and management company, is still planning more acquisitions. “We’ll use capital to add assets and brands to enhance our platforms,” Arne Sorenson, Marriott’s chief executive officer, said yesterday during a panel discussion at a hospitality conference sponsored by New York University. The $210-million (Dh771.17 million) deal with Nashville, Tennessee-based Gaylord will add four hotels with about 7,800 rooms to Marriott’s management portfolio. Marriott is particularly seeking to add brands in emerging markets, Sorenson said. “The developing world, including China and India, holds the greatest promise,” Sorenson said. “It’s where the economies are growing the most.” Asia remains the bright spot for the company, Marriott, the chairman, said in the television interview yesterday, with markets including China and India driving the company’s growth. Marriott plans to add 110 hotels in the region. He estimates growth rates of 7 per cent to 8 per cent for its business in China, and between 4 per cent and 5 per cent for Hong Kong, which he said is “not as robust”. “Asia continues to boom,” Marriott said. “There are soft spots around the world obviously. I don’t think there will be a serious recession this time.”from gulf news.