Hotels, suite
Marriott International, the hotel giant behind chains like The Ritz-Carlton company, Sheraton, Westin, and of course Marriotts themselves, saw its shares rise 3% yesterday after the company beat expectations in the first quarter and lifted its outlook for 2023.
Revenue soared above $5.6 billion, up 34% on the figure for the same period last year, as travel demand continues to surge in the US and beyond.
Room numbers
Marriott International became the largest hotel operator in the world after it acquired Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide for $13 billion back in 2016, the two merging to form an umbrella of 30 hotel brands, spanning more than 5,800 properties and 1.1 million rooms at the time.
That room count has grown in the years since, now sitting at a whopping 1.53 million according to the company’s latest report. That's up 21% from the same point 5 years ago — enough space to put the entire population of the cities of Austin and Atlanta up for the night, each in their own room.
Marriott's recovery from the pandemic hasn't been immediate, but the rising occupancy rates of its rooms tell a positive story for the beleaguered travel industry. Indeed, the company booked $757 million in net income — largely buoyed by a strong international performance as China, where revenue-per-available room was up nearly 80%, continues to open back up.
