History and Growth
Marriott was founded by John Willard Marriot in 1927 when he and his wife, Alice Sheets Marriot,
opened a root beer stand in Washington, D.C. As a mormon missionary in the summers in Washington D.C, Marriott was convinced that what residents of
the city needed was a place to get a cool drink. The Marriotts later expanded
their enterprise into a chain of restaurants and hotels.
They opened their first hotel, the Twin Bridges Marriott Motor Hotel, in Arlington, Virginia, in 1957. Their second hotel, the Key Bridge Marriott in
the Rosslyn neighbourhood of the same city, is Marriott International’s longest continuously
operating hotel, and celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2009. Their son, J.W. (Bill)
Marriott, Jr., led the company to spectacular worldwide growth during his more
than 50-year career. In March 2012, at age 80, he turned the CEO
responsibilities over to Arne Sorenson, while he assumed the title of Executive
Chairman.
Marriott International was formed in 1993 when Marriot Corporation split into two companies, Marriott International and Host Marriot Corporation. In 1995, Marriott was the first hotel company worldwide
to offer guests the option to book reservations online.
The Marriot World Trade Center was destroyed during the September 11, 2001 attacks.
In 2002 Marriott International began a major restructuring by spinning
off many Senior Living Services Communities and Marriott Distribution Services,
so that it could focus on hotel ownership and management.
Marriott International owned Ramada International Hotels and Resorts until its sale on September 15, 2004 to Cendant. It is the first
hotel chain to serve food that is completely free of trans fats at all of its North American properties.
In 2005, Marriott International and Marriott Vacation Club International
comprised two of the 53 entities that contributed the maximum of $250,000 to
the second inauguration of President George W Bush.
On November 11, 2010, Marriott announced plans to add over 600 hotel
properties by 2015, the bulk of the additions will be in the emerging markets
of India, where it plans to have 100 hotel properties, China and Southeast
Asia.
In December 2012, Guinness World Record officially recognised the 5 Star JW Marriott Marquis
Hotel Dubai as the world's tallest hotel.
On January 27, 2015, Marriott acquired Canadian hotel chain Delta Hotels. Delta
operates 40 hotels in Canada.
On 16 November 2015, Marriott announced the acquisition of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide. The deal is expected to close in
mid-2016. The acquisition will give Marriott a larger non-US presence;
approximately 75% of Starwood’s revenues are from foreign markets. The
acquisition is the largest of its sort since 2007, when Blackstone acquired
Hilton for $26 billion. There is a $400 million breakup fee if the transaction
is not completed. Executives noted that total transaction and integration
expenditures might exceed $100 million.
Marriott Number of Employees
The register is from 2007 to 2014
