The hotels are scheduled to open under long-term management contracts over the next 36 months and represent the company's Marriott Hotels & Resorts and Marriott Executive Apartments brands. The properties announced today add 1,126 rooms to Marriott's Middle East & Africa development pipeline, which now totals 44 hotels and 10,800 rooms under construction or in advanced planning.

Opening between now and year-end 2015, these new properties will boost Marriott's Middle East & Africa regional presence to more than 70 hotels across six lodging brands, totaling nearly 20,000 rooms in 12 countries. The portfolio includes JW Marriott and The Ritz-Carlton hotels in the luxury tier; Marriott and Renaissance Hotels & Resorts in the upscale segment; Courtyard by Marriott in the moderately-priced tier and deluxe Marriott Executive Apartments for extended stay travelers.

Hotels announced today include:

    --  Marriott's first hotels in Algeria -- the 227-room, upscale Algiers
        Marriott and the 180-unit Algiers Marriott Executive Apartments
        properties. Both are planned to open in 2012. The hotels are owned by
        Trust Real Estate SPA and will be part of an attractively landscaped,
        secure mixed-use development located three kilometers north of the
        Algiers airport consisting of a high-end shopping mall, offices and
        residential space.

    --  Marriott's sixth resort on the Red Sea and eighth hotel in Egypt -- the
        294-room Sahl Hasheesh Marriott Beach Resort. Scheduled to be rebranded
        in 2011, it is a conversion from the existing The Old Palace Resort and
        is owned by Red Sea Hotels Co.

    --  Marriott's first hotel in Sub-Saharan Africa -- the 209-room Accra
        Marriott in Ghana which is scheduled to open in late 2010.  Owned by
        African Hospitality Ltd., the hotel will be located within minutes of
        Kotoka International Airport.

    --  Marriott's first hotel in Morocco -- the 216-room Marrakech Marriott
        Palm Golf Hotel which is expected to open in 2012.  The hotel is owned
        by a JV between J. Partners and Domaine Palm Marrakech SAS. It will be
        part of a large master development community that will also include an
        18-hole golf course, a country club and 250 luxury residences. A key
        focal point of the development is its commitment to achieving "Haute
        Qualite Environmentale" certification, a European program similar to the
        U.S. Green Building Council's LEED(R) (Leadership in Energy and
        Environmental Design) certification program in the United States."

"The opening of our new regional headquarters in Dubai recognizes the dynamic nature of tourism in the Middle East and the emergence of Africa as a viable destination for business and leisure travel," said Ed Fuller, president & managing director international lodging for Marriott. "The Middle East appears to have weathered the global economic storm and we're beginning to look forward to rising occupancies through the end of this year and into next. With its diverse cultural and historic attractions, unique geography and the industry's changing travel patterns, we expect the Middle East and Africa as a whole to play an increasingly important role in the future."

Mr. Fuller said that the strong pace of Marriott's development pipeline shows long-term confidence in the region, "especially since this growth is occurring in the context of the difficult global economy and tight credit markets. The hotels joining our portfolio are a testament to the recognized power of our brands to deliver results even under challenging conditions and to the success of our existing hotels." He added that the company's hotels throughout the region regularly rank at or near the top of their competitive set in customer preference, guest satisfaction and operating results.

NOTE: Statements about the locations and number of new hotels to be opened and their anticipated completion and opening dates are "forward looking statements" within the meaning of federal securities laws, and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those described in Marriott International, Inc.'s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which could cause the actual number of new hotels or their completion or opening dates to be different than expected.

Visit Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR) for company information.

SOURCE Marriott International

http://www.marriott.com/corporateinfo/boilerplate.mi

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"The Autograph Collection will take the innovative approach of grouping these iconic hotels according to the unique experience that guests are seeking whether it's a resort, historic hotel, boutique arts, or urban edge hotel in a dynamic gateway city," said Don Semmler, executive vice president of brand management for Marriott International. "Each hotel will be highly unique and distinct with its own identity, appealing to a growing segment of our customers who are looking for an experience that an independent hotel can deliver."

There are currently plans to add approximately 25 hotels through 2010 with locations throughout the world. The Autograph Collection provides Marriott with another attractive platform for future global growth. The benefit to member properties includes tapping into Marriott's industry-leading global reservations system, and powerful consumer outreach through its leading technology, and sales and marketing platforms which have helped build Marriott into one of the world's leading hotel operators.

Marriott has been successful in developing brands across a wide spectrum of customer segments and each is uniquely positioned against a specific target segment. While there may be some cross selling opportunities, The Autograph Collection gives Marriott the ability to capture a broad audience that would not have typically considered a branded concept - appealing to guests who want to stay in independent hotels.

Each hotel will be required not only to meet Autograph's discriminating product standards, but will also need to demonstrate continued high guest satisfaction and quality assurance scores to remain part of The Autograph Collection. In addition, each hotel will go through the same hotel and operator approval processes as other Marriott full-service hotels.

The Autograph Collection will be featured on Marriott.com and affiliated with Marriott Rewards, Marriott International's award-winning guest loyalty program, where guests can earn points at more than 3,000 hotels in 68 countries.

Note: The statement about the number of new hotels to be added in 2010 and their locations is a "forward looking statement" within the meaning of federal securities laws, not a historical fact, and is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including the depth and duration of the current recession; supply and demand changes for hotel rooms; competitive conditions in the lodging industry; relationships with clients and property owners; the availability of capital to finance hotel growth and refurbishment; and other risk factors identified in our most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q; any of which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by our statement. This statement is made as of the date of this press release, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise

MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL, INC. (NYSE: MAR) is a leading lodging company with more than 3,300 lodging properties in 68 countries and territories. Marriott International operates and franchises hotels under the Marriott, JW Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Residence Inn, Courtyard, TownePlace Suites, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites and Bulgari brand names; develops and operates vacation ownership resorts under the Marriott Vacation Club, The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club, The Ritz-Carlton Residences and Grand Residences by Marriott brands; operates Marriott Executive Apartments; provides furnished corporate housing through its Marriott ExecuStay division; and operates conference centers. The company is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, USA and had approximately 146,000 employees at 2008 year-end. It is recognized by FORTUNE(R) as one of the best companies to work for, and by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as Partner of the Year since 2004. In fiscal year 2008, Marriott International reported sales from continuing operations of nearly $13 billion. For more information or reservations, please visit our web site at www.marriott.com. For an interactive online version of Marriott's 2008 Annual Report, which includes a short video message from Chairman and CEO J.W. Marriott, Jr., visit www.marriott.com/investor.

SOURCE Marriott International, Inc.

http://www.marriott.com

SmarTrend is bullish on shares of MAR and our subscribers received an Uptrend alert on August 05, 2009 at $23.10, which has returned 11.7% to date.

Write to Chip Brian at cbrian@tradethetrend.com

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SmarTrend analyzes over 5,000 securities simultaneously throughout the trading day and provides its subscribers with trend change alerts in real time. To get a free trial of our trading calls and maximize your trading results, please visit http://www.TradeTheTrend.com.

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