STRONG GROWTH AND SALES ARE ANNOUNCED BY MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL

Two New Hotels Are Planned For Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz

Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE:MAR) had “an outstanding year” in 2000, with earnings increasing 25 percent to US$1.89 per share over 1999 and systemwide sales surging to US$19.8 billion.

Speaking at a press conference at the ITB, John Marriott III, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Marriott International, said the company added a record number of new rooms to its lodging system during the year. “Most importantly, nearly 30 percent of these rooms represented conversions to our lodging brands, demonstrating owners’ and franchisees’ preference to be part of our worldwide lodging family.”

He said that Marriott added 238 hotels and timesharing resorts (39,995 rooms) across its lodging brands during 2000, with 54 of the hotels located outside the United States. At year-end, the Marriott lodging group encompassed 2,099 hotels and timesharing resorts (390,469 rooms) and approximately 7,000 furnished corporate apartments that are managed by the company’s ExecuStay by Marriott division.

“We have the brands preferred by travelers and hotel owners, as well as a talented, enthusiastic work force dedicated to customer service. Our worldwide reservations system, frequent guest loyalty program (Marriott Rewards) and Internet site (marriott.com) are among the best in the hotel industry. Our abundant cash flow enables us to invest significant capital in expanding our businesses and building our brands,” Mr. Marriott said.

Marriott Sales Continue Upward Trend

He added that results reported by the company’s worldwide sales offices in 2000 increased by 18.1 percent from the previous year, the 12th consecutive year of double-digit growth. In Central Europe (Frankfurt), sales increased 12.1 percent over the previous year, with German travelers selecting Marriott International hotels in central Europe, Asia and the United States as their top picks.

Meanwhile, bookings made through its marriott.com Internet site reached $430 million, nearly three times as many bookings as registered in the previous year through this distribution channel. Mr. Marriott said that despite the proliferation of e-travel sites, about 75 percent of Marriott’s Internet bookings come directly through marriott.com. He said that the site receives 3 million visits a month.

Despite the growth of its Internet reservations, Marriott booked $2.5 billion in sales through the Global Distribution Systems (GDS). Sales volume in 2000 through this channel continued to grow by 16 percent outside the United States and Canada, with the top five country generators of GDS sales for Marriott International hotels worldwide in descending order being the U.S., Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, Germany and Mexico.

Hotel Excellence! Travel Agent Program Grows in Popularity

Introduced nearly three years ago, Marriott’s Hotel Excellence! travel agent training program continues to grow globally as 45,400 agents in 100 countries have completed the program.

“We’re ecstatic that agents throughout the world are embracing this highly acclaimed, self-paced program,” Mr. Marriott said. “Prior to its introduction, training for travel agents about hotel products was practically non-existent, despite the fact that surveys show that a majority of customers consult with travel agents specifically to get hotel advice.”

New Hotels Planned for Berlin

Mr. Marriott also announced that Marriott will manage two new hotels that will open in 2004 on the north side of Potsdamer Platz on Lenne Drieck between the Platz, with its entertainment, retail and public transport amenities, and the Tiergarten, Berlin’s largest park. The properties are a 375-room Berlin Marriott hotel aimed for quality-tier travelers and a 295-room The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Berlin for the luxury-tier traveler.

“We are very excited about this opportunity,” he said. “Berlin is one of the world’s major cities, and we have long wanted to substantially increase our presence in this important market. We are thrilled with this project, which holds significant strategic benefits for our long-term development goals.”

German Lodging Operations Are Positive

In Germany, Karl Kilburg, senior vice president for Continental Europe, said that sales increased 8.6 percent across the company’s Marriott, Renaissance and Courtyard by Marriott lodging brands, while occupancy for these brands was up 2.2 percentage points.

Mr. Kilburg added that in the past five years, the company’s lodging portfolio in Germany has increased almost six-fold to 29 properties, not including Ritz-Carlton and Ramada International hotels. “We are very pleased with the performance of our hotels throughout Germany and by the way they have been embraced by the local community.”

The Future

Mr. Marriott said that the company plans to add 175,000 rooms to its global portfolio over the five-year period of 1999-2003. At the end of 2000, the company had more than 400 lodging properties (just over 70,000 rooms) under construction or approved for development. Over 80 percent of the rooms associated with the company’s five-year goal are open or under development.

Among hotels opening this year are the following:

· The 395-room Copenhagen Marriott Hotel, the company’s first Marriott-branded hotel in Scandinavia, is part of the harbor-front redevelopment and is located close to the Tivoli Gardens and the Christianborg Palace.

· The 146-room Courtyard by Marriott Dusseldorf Hafen, located at the docks of the Rhine River port, close to the new media center.

· The 123-room Tbilisi Marriott Hotel, the 123-room Courtyard by Marriott Tbilisi Hotel and the 380-room Armenia Marriott Hotel Yerevan.

· The 265-room JW Marriott Resort & Spa Phuket and the 144-villa Marriott Phuket Beach Club vacation ownership community in Thailand.

· The 369-room JW Marriott Hotel Shanghai and the 237-unit Shanghai Marriott Executive Apartments, both of which are in the heart of the city’s central business district.

· The 425-room JW Marriott Hotel Cairo Mirage City, which features a 36,576-square-meter European spa and an 18-hole golf course designed by Peter Harradine among a host of other amenities.

· The 640-room Renaissance Hollywood Hotel in the U.S., which will be located at the historic intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue beneath the well-known “Hollywood” sign.

· The 178-room Renaissance Tunis Hotel, which is situated on one of the most exclusive beachfront sites in Gammarth on Les Cotes de Carthage.

· The 256-room Costa do Sauipe Marriott Resort & Spa, the 237-room Renaissance Costa do Sauipe and the 245-room Rio de Janeiro Marriott Hotel, all of which are located in Brazil.



Mr. Marriott concluded by saying that his vision for the company is “for Marriott to become the global leader in hospitality through personal relationships with our customers around the world.”

He said that being “global” is a mindset. “It is more than having lots of hotels in many countries. It is a way of doing business, an attitude. With the Internet, the ‘personal relationships’ part of the vision is a real possibility. Personal relationships drive loyalty and will increase trip share and the percentage of one’s total hotel stays. It will also allow us the opportunity to communicate openly and frequently with our customers while they are in one of our rooms or somewhere else. One day, we might think of our hotel rooms as just another ‘channel,’ like the Internet, the telephone or a personal visit.”