Noteworthy

November 24, 2010

Tyler Davidson

Marriott International and Hilton Worldwide announced aggressive expansion plans for their hotel portfolios over the next several years, both in the U.S. and abroad. A significant number of the upcoming properties are upscale, meetings-oriented hotels near downtown convention centers.

Hilton Worldwide, which is opening or has opened 70 hotels this year and next, is almost doubling the number of properties in its Conrad Hotels & Resorts brand over the next three years, with 14 hotels in the pipeline, including one in New York City.

Airport hotels with resort-style amenities like swimming pools, spas and fine dining restaurants are also a focus, including the recent opening of the Hilton Rosemont/Chicago O’Hare and Hilton Beijing Capital Airport in China.

At a recent conference in New York, Marriott announced that it expects to add as many as 90,000 hotel rooms to its portfolio between 2011 and 2013.

"We are on the threshold of extraordinary growth for our company," said Marriott International Chairman and CEO J.W. Marriott Jr.

In particular, the luxury JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts brand is set for expansion, with 18 additional hotels expected to open within the next five years. JW Marriott hotels have opened in Miami and Chicago within the past month.

Marriott also plans to expand its new brands, including EDITION and the Autograph Collection.

About the author

Tyler Davidson is the vice president and chief content director for Meetings Today, which publishes the meetings industry trade magazine Meetings Today as well as MeetingsToday.com, various newsletters, webinars, the in-person Meetings Today LIVE! Hosted-buyer events and other meetings and events industry B2B channels.

Tyler has covered the travel trade for nearly 35 years. In his role with Meetings Today, which recently won the prestigious FOLIO: Eddies Award for best magazine issue, Tyler leads the editorial team on its mission to provide the most in-depth meetings content in the industry. Previously, he worked as the Asia, Canada, Pacific Northwest and Western U.S. editor at Travel Weekly magazine and TravelAge West. Before joining the dual editorial staff producing destination sections for Travel Weekly and TravelAge West, Tyler was the Africa, Israel, Middle East, Switzerland and Pacific Northwest editor at TravelAge West. He also undertook general news and feature assignments while working at the magazines.

Besides reporting on the travel trade, Tyler has covered the real estate industry, held various editorial positions at the San Francisco-based national satire magazine The Nose, wrote freelance technology industry pieces and covered the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders for a bilingual newspaper in San Francisco. He has a B.A. in Journalism from San Francisco State University, where he worked in various editorial capacities on its award-winning student magazine, Prism.

Contact: tyler.davidson@meetingstoday.com