JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts has been witnessing a strong business growth of its hotels in the Asia- Pacific region, said Paul Toner, vice president for Asia Pacific sales and marketing of Marriott International Inc.

He made the remarks Wednesday at a road show of six JW Marriott hotels in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Phuket, Mumbai, Seoul and Shanghai.

He said the group has already been managing about 100 hotels in the Asia-Pacific region and will open more in the region in the next two years.

Toner said the group's business in the Chinese mainland is very good. In the past two years, the group opened hotels in Shanghai, Suzhou and Sanya and some other cities and it will open at least five more hotels in various Chinese mainland cities.

JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong, the group's first hotel in Asia, opened in 1989.

Michael Nisky, general manager of the JW Marriott Hong Kong, said in an interview with Xinhua that business is even good at summer season when hotel room occupancy rate is usually lower than that of other seasons.

He said the hotel room occupancy rate has reached over 80 percent at the summer season and the revenue of this year is expected to exceed that of last year.

He said, the hotel has added a new manager for handling convention and meeting business and a manager for market promotion in the Chinese mainland.

Nisky said the passengers from the Chinese mainland have accounted for 15 percent to 20 percent of the total number of passengers for the hotel, a rate much higher than that of a few years ago.

Khushnooma Kapadia, manager for marketing and communications of JW Marriott Mumbai, India, said there are four hotels of the group in the city, which takes the biggest share of market there.

She said the business of her hotel has been increasing with the booming of the tourism and economic development of the leading Indian commercial city. However, the number of Chinese passengers to her hotel is limited. That's the reason she came to Shanghai and Hong Kong, the first and second stops of the group's regional road show, to invite more Chinese people to her city and her hotel.

The managing personnel from the six hotels will leave for Singapore, the last leg of the road show, on Thursday.

JW Marriott Hotels & Resort is Marriott's global luxury brand and the first JW Marriott Hotel open in February 1984 in Washington, D.C..

The JW Marriott portfolio currently includes 34 hotels and resorts in 18 countries and regions, along with about 2,300 Marriott-affiliated hotels worldwide.

Source: Xinhua