Marriott president and CEO Arne Sorenson predicts a 4-7 per cent average increase in revpar during 2013, after the global hotel group saw a 6-7 per cent revpar rise last year.
"This suggests that the economic recovery continues," he told an ITB press conference in Berlin. "We see another strong year coming." But he said there was less bullishness in Europe, with lower expectations of growth than in other parts of the world.
Sorenson said that 2012 had been a record year for reaching agreements for new properties with 8-9 per cent growth (representing 57,000 rooms) which was better than the pre-recession peak of 2007.
Beneath this global figure, he said that regional differences included fewer new rooms in the US than in 2007 and "significantly more" in Latin America and Asia.
He also said that the opening of the group's 20th property in Shanghai in January was "really gratifying".
Sorenson added that the group's strong distribution across China as well as India, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and other countries in the region was paying off. This growth was being aided by loyalty programme customers who were increasingly "getting on the road" and travelling internationally.
Amy McPherson, Marriott's president & managing director for Europe, said the company's Autograph brand had performed “strongly”, with its Revpar Index (calculating revpar against its main competitors) up by 13 percentage points and revenues up 25 per cent in 2012.
She said 40 per cent of Marriott's Europe pipeline was in the east, with Russia showing "incredible potential".