brands and real estate at Baird Equity Research , pointed out , more rooms do not necessarily mean more fees , “ which is what the public market values ,” Bellisario said . For example , Marriott , in its MGM partnership , is only paid on rooms booked directly through its own channels . Hilton added some 5,800 rooms through its deal with Graduate Hotels and more than 19,000 strategic partner rooms through other deals with such entities as AutoCamp and SLH .

Though new construction isn ’ t as robust , Capuano argued that it ’ s not about the viability of the projects , but rather some uncertainty in the lender community . “ The irony is that when we talk to lenders , often , the hospitality loans in their commercial real estate portfolios are the best performing ,” he said . “ If they have reluctance to lend on new construction , it has little to do with the fundamentals , and much more to do with the unknown ,” citing things like Basel III ( a set of international banking regulations that establish minimum requirements for

banks ’ capital , liquidity and risk management ) and other regulatory requirements that could be imposed .

PERFORMANCE ART Global RevPAR at Marriott rose over 4.3 % for the year , with the U . S . and Canada seeing its best quarterly RevPAR growth of the year in Q4 , rising over 4 % and driven primarily driven by higher ADRs . Capuano also noted that the drop in occupancy around November ’ s U . S . election was not as severe as it had anticipated , with demand rebounding quickly . International RevPAR growth was also strong , rising 7 % in the quarter , with heavy gains in Japan , India and Thailand . China remains the outlier : RevPAR in Greater China declined 2 %, though Capuano allowed that the decrease was “ better than prior expectations ,” as the region benefited from the recent expanded visa-free-transit policy .

By customer segment , leisure , at 44 %, comprises the largest portion of Marriott ’ s global room nights and had its strongest RevPAR-growing

quarter of the year , rising 6 % and 4 % in the U . S . and Canada , respectively . Solid gains in ADR drove business transient RevPAR up 3 % globally and up 4 % in the U . S . and Canada . Group RevPAR , which comprised 23 % of room nights , rose 3 % in the quarter , in line with Marriott expectations . It was group ’ s lowest growth quarter of the year , due to fewer group events in the U . S . around November ’ s election and a decline in Group RevPAR in Greater China .

Business travel has returned closer to 2019 levels , but the composition is different , noted Leeny Oberg , CFO and EVP of development of Marriott International . While small-andmedium-sized businesses came back faster out of the gate than the largest corporates , Oberg now said that large corporates , especially in the financing sector of the economy , are back to more than recovered .

ART OF THE DEAL In December , Marriott announced plans to launch an outdoor-focused collection , following its deals with Postcard Cabins and Trailborn . “ Our

focus on offering fantastic travel experiences for every trip purpose is key to ensuring that Marriott Bonvoy remains the industry leading travel platform ,” Capuano said , noting that Marriott added more than 31 million new members in 2024 to the loyalty program , which now stands at around 228 million members .

More deals could come to build out the Marriott travel platform , but Capuano was quick to say that the vast majority of rooms growth will be through organic growth . “ When we have identified a gap — either in our brand portfolio or in our geographic footprint — that we thought could be more effectively filled through a tuck-in acquisition , we ’ ve done that in some instances ,” he said . “ We ’ ll continue to look at both the breadth of the brand portfolio and our expanding global footprint , and if we think there ’ s an opportunity to fill those gaps , we will certainly consider a tuck-in acquisition .”

SPENDING WISELY Beyond the money Marriott is bringing in , there are three

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