Marriott plans major expansion in France
While the Summer Olympics will conclude in Paris in August, Marriott is playing the long game when it comes to France.
The world's largest hotel company plans to add 10 hotels and more than 1,000 rooms across France by the end of 2025. The planned expansion includes brands like 2023 TPG Award-winner Moxy, Residence Inn, Courtyard, Aloft and The Luxury Collection. The new hotels will boost Marriott's existing French footprint of 69 hotels across 29 cities.
"We remain focused on strengthening our presence in primary and secondary markets in France in line with the strong demand we are seeing for leisure and resort experiences, as well as for business travel," Alexandra Goguet, Marriott International's vice president of development for France and the Benelux region, said in a statement.
It's not a shock that Marriott wants to beef up its presence in France. It was one of the first countries in Europe to return to pre-pandemic visitor and visitor spending levels, and it's also the most-visited country in the world, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization.
The move comes amid a broader push by companies like Hilton and Hyatt to beef up their presence across Europe, too. For Marriott, hotel performance in Europe was up nearly 22% last year, and rates increased by more than 7%, according to the company's most recent annual filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Moxy has the largest presence in the ongoing expansion, with Moxy Annecy and Moxy Paris Clamart slated to open this year and Moxy Nice expected to open by the end of 2025. There are already nine other Moxy hotels operating in France. Residence Inn by Marriott Lille, Courtyard by Marriott Lyon East and Aloft Dijon are some other upcoming openings planned across France.
The marquee project for Marriott is Hotel du Couvent, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Nice. This project entails a renovation of a convent that dates back to 1604; it will result in 88 luxury guest rooms and suites slated to open this summer. Additionally, Marriott plans to open a Tribute Portfolio hotel in Mougins, a hillside town 15 minutes north of Cannes.
"Conversion and adaptive reuse projects represent nearly half our properties expected to join the Marriott portfolio in France by the end of 2025," Goguet said. "These projects allow us to add hotels in key locations in city centres and demonstrate our expertise and flexibility in finding innovative solutions to adapt existing buildings whilst creating fantastic guest experiences."
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