Marriott Irma: Marriott released a statement in anticipation of Hurricane Irma, scheduled to hit the northeastern Caribbean islands and Puerto Rico by Wednesday before possibly hitting the U.S. mainland:
We are closely monitoring the path of Hurricane Irma. Currently, there are storm warnings and watches in effect for several islands across the Caribbean. The safety of our guests and associates is one of Marriott’s top priorities. Our hotels in the current path of the storm have implemented storm preparation protocols. The safety of our guests and associates is one of Marriott’s top priorities. We will be communicating pertinent information about the storm directly to our guests. We encourage travelers planning to visit the Islands to check news about the storm for the most current information. For information regarding hotel reservations, please call (800) 228-9290. Those in countries outside of the United States with questions about hotel reservations should call the Marriott International toll-free number in their country.
FEMA’s Harvey hotel rooms: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has placed some 53,630 Texas residents displaced by Harvey in government-funded hotel rooms. The temporary housing has been provided for 18,732 households and once individuals are granted the assistance there is a minimum allotment of 14 days, which can be extended on a case-by-case basis.
Marriott on DACA: The hotel giant released a statement following President Donald Trump’s move to end support for the DACA program which protects young undocumented immigrants from deportation.
Marriott International has long supported a holistic approach to immigration reform to fix our nation’s broken immigration system, which includes support for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. We remain committed to working with Congress on broad immigration reform efforts and call on Members to urgently pass the DREAM Act or other legislation to provide the certainty and permanent solution that DACA individuals deserve to remain valuable contributors to our society and economy.
Okura in Hokkaido: Okura Nikko Hotel Management, a subsidiary of Hotel Okura, will open Hotel JAL City Sapporo Nakajima Park in 2019 on Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido. The company has signed a contract with Sapporo NK Management LLC to operate and manage.
One huge pipeline: Marriott International currently has the largest construction pipeline of any franchise company with 1,288 projects/166,096 rooms, according to Lodging Econometrics data. In the first half of the year, the company opened 120 new hotels with 14,071 rooms, accounting for 27% of all new hotels opened this year. Their largest brands in the pipeline are: Fairfield Inn with 283 projects/27,244 rooms, Residence Inn with 187 projects/23,617 rooms and TownePlace Suites with 184 projects/18,757 rooms.