Marriott To Open Over 30 Luxury Hotels By 2020, Eyes Growth

Marriott International (NASDAQ:MAR) is striving hard to maintain its position as the fastest-growing global hospitality company. Recently, the company announced that it plans to add more than 30 luxury properties in established and emerging global hotspots by 2020.

The company has strong portfolio of distinct luxury brands like The Ritz-Carlton, Ritz-Carlton Reserve, St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, W Hotels, The Luxury Collection, EDITION, JW Marriott and Bvlgari. Tina Edmundson, global brand officer and luxury portfolio leader, Marriott International, stated that "Celebrating the distinct nature and individuality of our luxury brands, Marriott International offers a diverse variety of nuanced brand experiences that speak to the needs of the modern luxury traveler."

Notably, Marriott, which has above 185 luxury properties in its pipeline is likely to expand its presence in more than 15 new countries and territories. The company will also expand its Ritz – Carlton brand by opening hotels in Morocco, Japan, Mexico, Arizona and China by 2020. Moreover, the St. Regis will expand its footprint in Cairo, Mexico and Dubai by next year. Also, the W brand aims to open hotels in Philadelphia, Toronto, Chengdu, Melbourne and Italy by 2020.

Strategic Expansion to Drive Revenues

Marriott is consistently making investments in new locations for its various brands to meet growing demand for its hotels both domestically and internationally.

Recently, the company debuted The Ritz-Carlton, Perth , which marked the 100th Ritz-Carlton property worldwide. The St. Regis brand also expanded its footprint in Europe with the launch of The St. Regis Venice.

At third-quarter 2019 end, Marriott’s worldwide development pipeline totaled nearly 2,950 hotels and more than 495,000 rooms. For 2019, it anticipates 5-5.5% net room growth, which is likely to continue building economics, scale and consumer preference for its brands.

These apart, the hotel company is trying to strengthen presence outside the United States, especially in Asia, Latin America, Middle East and Africa. In fact, Marriott intends to expand its lead in the luxury and full-service segments in the region, have the largest portfolio in the upscale division and also win over millennials in the affordable lifestyle group by 2020. It is also very optimistic about growth opportunity in India.

We believe these above-mentioned tailwinds will help the company to counter competition from the likes of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) and Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H) .

A glimpse of this Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) company’s price trend reveals that it has outperformed the industry so far this year. Shares of Marriott have gained 28.3% outperforming the industry’s 25.6% growth.

Stock to Consider

A better-ranked stock in the same space is GreenTree Hospitality Group Ltd. (NYSE:H) . The company has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and an impressive long-term earnings growth rate of 17.6%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

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