Corporate demand at Marriott International hotels rebounded
by 27 percent year over year during the third quarter, which Marriott
executives said would give them leverage to boost 2011 corporate rates.
For the quarter, overall rates in North America were up 1.7
percent year over year, and rates in Marriott’s full-service and luxury
properties increased by 2.6 percent. Globally, rates were up 1.8 percent.
As such, revenue per available room was up by 8.2 percent
globally and by 7.2 percent in North America.
With the boost in business travel, Marriott cut back on
discounting and pushed its corporate earnings up by 9 percent in North America
during the quarter, according to Marriott chairman and CEO J.W. Marriott Jr. In
2011, Marriott expects overall corporate rates to be up in the high single
digits. Part of that will come from new, higher-paying corporate business, but
the company also is pushing for increases in current negotiations.
"Pricing is going to vary considerably from hotel to
hotel and customer to customer, yet clearly with this level of demand, the
stage is set for strong pricing in 2011," Marriott president and COO Arne
Sorenson said on Thursday in a conference call to investors. "After the
rate declines we’ve seen, it certainly is appropriate."
Marriott on Thursday also announced a joint venture with
Spanish hotel group AC Hotels, which has a portfolio of 90 upper upscale hotels
across Spain, Italy and Portugal. The two companies are forming a co-brand, AC
by Marriott, which combines AC’s design and Marriott’s sales and distribution
platforms. AC will reflag its existing hotels to denote the partnership, and
the two companies plan to open the brand across Europe and Latin America.