Marriott signs 10 property deals

"It will be the largest expansion in Thailand since the group entered the Kingdom," said Geoff Garside, executive vice president for the Asia-Pacific.

He said many independent hotels in Asia - particularly in China, India and Thailand - needed international hotel-chain operators to deal with tough competition during the economic crisis.

"The crisis in this region became our opportunity. We believe that the hotel industry will grow in the long term.

"We can already see a positive move in occupancy rates now that Thailand is recovering from the airport crisis in November and December," Garside said.

Of its future plans, the group will manage 10 new hotels with 1,751 rooms located in major tourist destinations.

The first two properties - Marriott Executive Apartments with 300 units and Sathorn Vista Marriott Executive Apartments with 187 - will open in Bangkok this year.

Next year, the group plans to manage two hotels with a combined 401 units under the Marriott brand in Phuket and Rayong and another 513 rooms in Phuket and Bangkok under the Renaissance brand.

The group is also set to manage another Renaissance in Bangkok's Sukhumvit Road area and a Marriott Executive Serviced Apartments in the capital in 2011 for a combined 350 units.

Garside said the group was also looking to manage hotels in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Cha-am and Hua Hin.

Worldwide, Marriott International has about 130,000 rooms under construction, awaiting conversion or approved for development.

More than half of these are serviced apartments outside the US. India and China are expected to become the biggest markets in Asia over the next three years.

The company also predicts its worldwide network will encompass nearly 600,000 rooms this year.

The group currently manages hotels and serviced apartments in Thailand under the Marriott, JW Marriott and Courtyard brands.