MEXICO CITY—Marriott International announced plans to develop, open, and operate 20 new hotels in partnership with FibraHotel, the largest and first publicly traded Mexican Lodging REIT across key Mexican cities by 2016. The first six hotels were signed this week and will add approximately 800 rooms to the Mexican market and create over 400 jobs for Mexican nationals.
“With a current portfolio of 23 hotels across five Marriott International brands, Mexico is one of the largest, most important and dynamic international markets for our company”, says Craig S. Smith, president of the Caribbean and Latin America at Marriott International. “In the past five years we have seen a strong emerging Mexican middle class that is eager to travel and the world’s financial industry predicts that by 2020, Mexico’s economy will be among the ten largest in the world, truly reinforcing the fact that we are living the Mexican moment”.
FibraHotel is currently one of the largest hotel owners in Mexico with a portfolio of 49 business hotels representing over 6,500 rooms in 22 states, and with aggressive growth plans looking to reach 100 hotels in the next few years.
“The partnership with Marriott International fits our strategy perfectly: to grow through partnerships with leading brands and operators for our local hotels. Marriott’s professional systems with global distribution, processes and renowned operating excellence, combined with our local expertise in design and operating efficiencies, will ensure sustainable returns on these hotels. We are very excited about Marriott International´s commitment to grow in Mexico and the region and look forward to a long and prosperous partnership” said Simon Galante, CEO at Fibra Hotel.
With the strong focus on new hotel development in Mexico, Marriott International saw a need to open a local development office in Mexico City, spearheaded by Alonso Burgos, director of development for Mexico.
The current pipeline of properties for Mexico include the 124-room Los Cabos, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, the 300-room JW Marriott Cabo San Lucas Resort, the 130-room Courtyard by Marriott Hermosillo, the 130-room Courtyard by Marriott Los Cabos, the 120-room Fairfield Inn Queretaro, the 140-room Courtyard by Marriott Queretaro, and the 160-room AC Hotel Mexico City.
Photo credit: Mexico City via Bigstock
