May 4 – Marriott Lodging International will introduce 40 new properties in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) by 2014, said the company’s president and managing director, Ed Fuller. According to Fuller, the Middle East, particularly the GCC, has not been affected as such by the global economic crisis, thus making it profitable to expand into the region.
“In the Middle East, we have about 21 hotels opened and operating. We also have another nine in Africa, primarily north. At this point, we have a good 40 hotels that we have announced [as our expansion plan for the Mena region]. They are under development, [and] will start operations between 2010 and 2014,” he said. “In Abu Dhabi, we will have three new properties to manage, and that have been announced. They will also be operational between now and 2014,” he added. More properties will be opened in Qatar and other places close by.
