Marriott International to Nearly Triple Presence in Mexico

Marriott International, Inc. announced four signed agreements that it expects will nearly triple its lodging presence in Mexico over the next five years. The agreements would add 29 branded Marriott hotels in Mexico, create an estimated 3,000 new jobs and represent a total investment of more than $1 billion by the owners of the Marriott properties.

Fueling Marriott’s global growth, the Mexico announcement is part of its pipeline of 130,000 new rooms that the company expects to be added to its system by the year 2010. Marriott anticipates that more than a quarter of its new rooms will be located outside the U.S.

Announced are the following: a multi-unit development agreement with Caribe Hospitality that will result in 20 upper-moderately-priced Courtyard by Marriott properties over the next five-to-seven years throughout Mexico, which Marriott International will manage; a management agreement with Grupo Questro for the upscale 250-room Puerto Penasco Marriott Resort on Mexico’s Pacific coast.

Earlier, Grupo Questro and its partners signed a management agreement for the 170-room The Ritz-Carlton Mexico City which will have a branded residential component. Both properties are scheduled to open in 2011.