India Daily: Marriott Aims for 250 Properties Across India by 2025

Marriott plans to have 250 properties across India by 2025, including hotels that are open and in the pipeline. “We're in 40 cities today, that should be 50 cities or more by 2025,” said Marriott International CEO Anthony Capuano, adding that this would help create 10,000 new jobs in the country. Capuano, who was visiting India last week, spoke about his meeting with the Indian tourism minister during which they discussed the importance of continuing to tell the story about the rich and diverse set of experiences that the country offers. “And we want to make sure we have lodging options in all of those diverse destinations,” Capuano said. Reiterating Marriott’s “relatively simple” development strategy of providing the right product in every market the travelers want to visit for any type of trips, Capuano said the hotel group would continue to stay focused on India’s “strong and growing” domestic market. However, he did mention that the hotel group is a long way off as far as opportunity for luxury in India is concerned. “I think we're in our infancy of growing our industry portfolio in luxury. That's probably an area where we'll continue to focus on,” Capuano said. True to Capuano's statements, global hotels brands have been exploring the potential of India's luxury market with Hilton's last week announcement of the debut of the Waldorf Astoria brand in India and Radisson announcing the launch of its Radisson Collection in the country. Capuano also went to to talk about India witnessing a strong traction for branded residential properties, which Marriott launched in the country early this year. While 2020 and 2021 were the two most challenging years in the history of the hospitality business, interestingly, these were the two strongest years in the history of Marriott’s branded residential business, said Capuano. “The launch of Homes & Villas, allo