Marriott International announces the signing of five hotels for its newly established Middle East and Africa region

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 will add 1,126 rooms to Marriott International's previously announced Middle East & Africa development pipeline of 44 hotels and 10,800 rooms now under construction or in advanced planning.

Simultaneously, Marriott International announced that its:
• newly formed Middle East & Africa Region will be headquartered in Dubai, effective immediately;
• new Chief Operations Officer for the Region is Mark Satterfield, currently area vice president for the United Kingdom South & Ireland, based in London. His appointment is effective Dec. 1, 2009 and he will be based in Dubai.
• Jean-Marc Grosfort has been named Chief Development Officer for the region.
Mr. Grosfort's appointment is effective immediately and he will continue to be headquartered in Paris. Most recently, he was senior vice president development for France and Africa.

Opening between now and year-end 2015, these new properties will boost Marriott's Middle East & Africa's 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 Hotels & Resorts and Renaissance Hotel properties in the upscale segment; Courtyard by Marriott in the moderately-priced tier and deluxe Marriott Executive Apartments for extended stay travelers.

Hotels announced today are:
• Marriott's first hotels in Algeria -- the 227-room, upscale Algiers Marriott and the 180-unit Algiers Marriott Executive Apartments. Both are planned to open in 2012 and are owned by Trust Real Estate SPA. They 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, the equivalent of LEED in Europe.

"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. 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 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."

said Ed Fuller, president & managing director of international lodging for Marriott.

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 our existing hotels are enjoying in the region." He added that each of Marriott International's existing hotels in the region ranks at or near the top of its competitive set in customer preference, guest satisfaction and operating results.

Mark Satterfield named Chief Operations Officer for Middle East & Africa

Mark Satterfield, chief operations officer for the region, is responsible for the successful operations of all hotels in the Middle East & Africa. He joined Marriott International in 1987 in an operations role at the Minneapolis Marriott City Center Hotel in the United States. A year later, he transitioned into the finance discipline as an assistant controller at the Boston Marriott Copley Place property. Over the next six years, he held finance positions of increasing responsibility rising to director of finance at the New York Marriott Marquis hotel. In 1998, he was named resident manager of the New York Marriott East Side hotel and was promoted in 2001 to general manager of the New World Hotel Saigon in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, his first international assignment. A year later, he was named general manager of the JW Marriott Hotel Seoul in South Korea.

Jean Marc Grosfort named Chief Development Officer for Middle East & Africa

Jean-Marc Grosfort, chief development officer for the region, is charged with implementing Marriott's growth strategy in the region. He joined Marriott International as vice president-development during the company's 1997 acquisition of the Renaissance Hotel Group where he held a comparable position, based in Frankfurt. He was promoted to senior vice president in 2007 following a decade-long series of successful negotiations that resulted in the addition of more than 18 hotels to the Marriott International portfolio and created the strategy that adapted Marriott's successful Courtyard brand concept to the tastes of the European consumer. He began his hospitality career in 1970 at the Intercontinental in Geneva. Over the following six years, he held a number of positions in food & beverage and banqueting with Sheraton and Ramada hotels before being promoted to general manager of the Ramada Velizy-Villacoublay Hotel in France. Three years later, he was named Renaissance International's director of operations for Europe and, in 1987, was promoted to vice president of operations for Europe. He was advanced to vice president for development at Renaissance International in 1995.

Marriott International opened its first hotel in the Middle East & Africa, the 375-room Riyadh Marriott Hotel in Saudi Arabia, in 1980.