Marriot Hotels Analysis

The paper discusses the current position of Marriot Hotels in Asia-Pacific, including its market segmentation and SWOT analysis. It also covers the company's expansion in China, India, and Southeast Asia, along with future growth areas.

Running head: MARRIOT HOTELS ANALYSIS
MARRIOT HOTELS ANALYSIS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Abstract
The primary aim of the paper is to discuss Marriot Asia Pacific Hotels and its current position
in the various market within Asia. The report also focuses on the strength, weakness,
opportunity and threats (SWOT) that the company has to go through due to various external
changes and customer demands. The paper also discusses the future growth areas for the
company that will help them to retain themselves in the market and challenge its competitors.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Discussion..................................................................................................................................3
Background............................................................................................................................3
The current position of Marriot Asia Pacific Hotels..............................................................3
China..................................................................................................................................4
India....................................................................................................................................4
Other Southeast Asian Countries.......................................................................................5
SWOT Analysis.....................................................................................................................5
Future Growth Areas..............................................................................................................7
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
Marriot hotels are one of the largest multinational company. Ever since, its launch, the
company has been expanding and has never looked back. It is the largest network of
hospitality management that offers food and accommodation to the people. It has been
consistent in its deliverance and service. It has more than one lakh staff working under the
company. The paper aims to discuss the current position of the Marriot hotels in various
market in Asia and its market segmentation.
Discussion
Background
Marriot International is an American multinational company that is known for its
diversified hospitality. It looks after the portfolio of hotels as well as lodging-related
facilities. The Marriot company was founded by J. Willard Marriot and is now looked after
by his son Bill Marriot. Its headquarters is in Washington, D.C. which is a metropolitan area
(Dhir, 2019). In Fortune’s magazine, Marriot Hotels lie in the 33rd position among 100 best
companies. The company was the first one to introduce an option for online reservation by
MARSHA (Marriot’s Automatic Reservation System for Hotel Accommodations) (Wei,
2018). The food that is provided by the hotel is completely free of trans fats in all its
properties in North America. Marriot also ventured into building parks; however, two of the
Marriot parks were sold and are now associated with national theme park chains. It was also
the first hotels to introduce a program for their loyal customers where they could earn points
in limited-service hotels and then redeem the points at a full-service hotel ( Wei, 2018).
The current position of Marriot Asia Pacific Hotels
Marriot International portfolio has more than 710 hotels in Asia in twenty-three
countries as well as territories. The target of Marriot International is to open at least 1000

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hotels in Asia by the end of 2020 and create more than 50,000 job opportunities in the region
of Asia Pacific (Lai, 2019). This will help the tourist as well as the residents of the area too
with opportunities to explore new destinations as well as brands through Marriot Bonvoy.
Southeast Asia, China and India have been identified as growth drivers by Marriot where the
company can capitalise on their global trends as these countries have the highest population
and more number of travellers (Madar, 2017).
China
In 2019, Marriot was targeting to open at least 30 hotels in China alone. China has
always been the target for the expansion of Marriot’s Asia Pacific Hotels. China was the first
Asian country where the company opened its first Marriot Marquis property. Marriot hotels
started in Shanghai with a bang in the year of 2018 (Dogru, 2016). First, it announced to open
its Delta Hotels which is a part of Marriot hotels. It also planned to collaborate with the
resources of China to bring the St. Regis brand to Hong Kong because the city is filled with
glamour, tradition, history and culture (Lo, Li & Chan 2019).
India
India too continues to be one of the trusted nations where the company has expanded
their vision. It is the company’s second-largest growth engine after China that has more than
50 Marriot hotels in the pipeline. They are eyeing to open around 30,000 rooms in India by
the end of 2023 (Mathews, Pattnaik & Panda 2018). As the country has a strong economy
with a rise in middle-class people, India offers excellent opportunities for growth for the
Marriot company. They are also expecting to open the first Tribute Portfolio in India. The
country is one of the most critical markets in the growth of global strategy. Currently, the
company has 86 hotels under different brands like Ritz-Carlton, Westin, JW Marriot,
Meridien and others (Sanjeev & Bandyopadhyay 2016). They aim to open their hotels in
Indore, Jodhpur, Coorg, Srinagar and Siliguri that are major tourist spots and will help the

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company to expand. The hotels of Marriot primarily run on the aspect of wellness. In
Bangalore, there is an entire floor dedicated to wellness (Naragund, 2019). They have also
opened a new system where people can taste food in their desired Marriot hotel at any given
location for their wedding destination, and if the food is liked by the person, then the same
chef will be allocated for preparing the food on that particular wedding. This is another
reason for the popularity of Marriot hotels across Asia.
Other Southeast Asian Countries
The Marriot hotels have more than 140 signed hotels in Southeast Asia, most
importantly in Indonesia, which is a growing site for travel as well as tourism. By 2023 the
company is trying to expand its operations in the Philippines as well. Marriot is one of the
leading hotels in the Asia Pacific and is aiming to continue its operations there. The company
has also opened eight hotels in Vietnam and are exploring areas outside the central city (Wei,
2018). They are also planning to launch a Spa in that region as well. They are also looking
forward to building their hotels in Indonesia as well as Malaysia as it has a lot of potential in
it. Resort properties are coming up in these states along with beach resorts as well. Marriot in
2018 had also expanded its ventures in Japan and opened five resorts in the country (Wei,
2018). There is a Fuji Marriot Hotel Lake that is built in the lake area at the foothills of
Mount Fuji. They also opened a resort and spa in the year 2018 in Japan that has a casino,
entertainment facilities and amusement park. They also have their presence in Fiji and Sri
Lanka with two of their properties in those regions (Wei, 2018).
SWOT Analysis
 Strengths- One of the strengths of Marriot International is that it is capable of
generating surplus cash that the company gets for competing with its rivals in the
tourism as well as the hospitality industry. Global leadership in the market, reliable

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base of employees, global presence, robust brand portfolio, recognition of the brand,
innovative approach and is in line with technology are some of the strengths of
Marriot international (Mathews, Pattnaik & Panda 2018). Another strength of the
company is its adherence to operational norms. Expert people design the code of
conduct, and everyone is expected to follow the regulation.
 Weakness- One of the primary weakness of the company is that it is involved in
aggressive expansion as well as the establishment of new hotels that may lead to the
dilution of the hotels and maintaining the same standard of service consistently can be
challenging. The cyberattack of 2018 on the Marriot hotel led to the data breach of the
customers where their private information was compromised (Mathews, Pattnaik &
Panda 2018). Therefore, violation of data is another weakness of the company.
Marriot was always established as a family business, it is deeply rooted in the family
values, and therefore it is unwilling to change.
 Opportunity- Due to an increase in disposable income, the rate of travellers have
increased. It is here that the hotels can take advantage of the opportunity and attract
customers with the best packages, new customer service experience, personalised
attention as well as attractive interior decoration. The hotel’s collaboration with
Starwood has allowed it to reduce the cost that will increase the revenue ((Mathews,
Pattnaik & Panda 2018). With their new venture into technology to improve customer
experience, the company again has an opportunity in the segment of activity market.
Marriot also supported the LGBTQ community and has special offers for them that
could be a new opportunity in the business segment ((Mathews, Pattnaik & Panda
2018). As every customer wants personalised attention, it allows the hotel to charge
for their premium services.

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 Threats- It has a threat from the new emerging market in the tourism and hospitality
industry. It also has risk from the travelling norms that are stringent along with slow
growth of the economy in the U.S. Global recession has had a severe impact on the
hospitality business; therefore many companies are out for sale as they are not capable
of generating revenues. This can be another threat to the company. Disagreement with
a particular state or country can also affect the business of Marriot Hotels. Natural
disaster, attacks on tourists and fluctuation in the economy are factors that threaten the
hospitality industry. These factors can influence the decision of the customers. With
the rise of terror attacks, the company will have to face negative consequences and
will further spoil the international revenue of Marriot (Kurlantzick, 2016).
Future Growth Areas
With an effective planning process, the company can analyse the requirement as well
as the demands of the customers along with the market. A regular audit will provide the
company to improve its future growth areas and will also assist the company in finding new
opportunities. Three custom yachts are ready for sale by the year 2020 with around 300
guests (Chaleunsouk, 2017). Alternative planning in investment management will provide the
company with funding, and in return, Marriot will license its branding under Ritz-Carlton.
They are concentrating on the Asian-Pacific region that will help them in long-term
expansion and will prove to be a future growth area for the company. They can also build a
themed restaurant within their hotels that will be a growth area for the company.
Conclusion
Therefore to conclude, it must be understood that Marriot’s expansion in Asia-Pacific
has proved to be very successful, and their venture in the continent is not coming to an end.
They are planning new strategies to sustain themselves in the market and are fighting all

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odds. They are also trying to deal with the problems that arise due to the changing
environment. They are continuously working to adopt new methods for the best customer
services that will help them to grow.

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References
Chaleunsouk, T. (2017). A study of business strategies applied by entrepreneurs in SMEs in
the hotel industry in Vientiane to maximise competitive advantage (Master's thesis).
Dhir, S. (2019). Marriott Hotels. In Cases in Strategic Management (pp. 147-162). Springer,
Singapore.
Dogru, T. (2016). Development of the Hotel Industry in China: Mega-Events, Opportunities,
and Challenges. E-review of Tourism Research, 13.
Kurlantzick, J. (2016). Democratic backsliding and the reach of ISIS in Southeast
Asia. Current History, 115(782), 226.
Lai, K. (2019). Yibing Mao, chief legal counsel (Asia Pacific) and global senior vice
president, Marriott International. International Financial Law Review.
Lo, Y. L., Li, Y., & Chan, K. C. (2019). Contemporary Innovation in China. The Chinese
Economy, 52(5), 387-399.
Madar, A. (2017). Quality-a competitive advantage on the hotel services market. Case study:
Marriott Hotels & Resort versus Radisson Blu. Bulletin of the Transilvania University
of Brasov. Economic Sciences. Series V, 10(2), 141-146.
Mathews, N. E., Pattnaik, M., & Panda, S. (2018). Six Sigma Analysis in Indian Hospitality
Industry: Marriott Hotel.
Mathews, N. E., Pattnaik, M., & Panda, S. (2018). Six Sigma Analysis in Indian Hospitality
Industry: Marriott Hotel.
Naragund, M. (2019). BUSINESS HOTEL (Doctoral dissertation, National Institute of
Technology, Rourkela).

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Sanjeev, G. M., & Bandyopadhyay, R. (2016). Innovations in the Indian hospitality industry:
an overview. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes.
Wei, L. (2018). Marriott International, Inc: A Financial Analysis.