marriott international, inc. is an american multinational company that operates, franchises, and licenses lodging including hotel, residential and timeshare properties.it is headquartered in bethesda, maryland.the company was founded by j. willard marriott and his wife alice marriott.it has 31 brands with 8,000 properties containing 1,423,044 rooms in 139 countries and territories.of these 8,000 properties, 2,149 are operated by marriott, and 5,493 are operated by others pursuant to franchise agreements.the company also operates 20 hotel reservation centers.marriott international, inc. was formed in 1993 when marriott corporation split into two companies: marriott international, inc., which franchises and manages properties, and host marriott corporation (now host hotels & resorts), which owns properties.since the founders were mormon missionaries, copies of the book of mormon are provided in hotel rooms in addition to the bible.marriott was convinced that what residents of the city needed was a place to get a cool drink, and so after returning to utah and graduating from the university of utah, marriott purchased the rights to franchise an a&w root beer stand in columbia heights.the first summer saw brisk business, but as cold weather approached they realized the seasonal nature of their business and received permission from a&w to start selling food.he named the restaurant hot shoppes  and watched as it grew in popularity.always looking for new ways to improve his company, he bought the vacant lot next to one of his hot shoppes, removed the curb, and began offering the first drive-in service on the east coast.this move popularized the restaurants, and by 1932, the marriotts owned 7 hot shoppes in the d.c. area.in 1953, hot shoppes, inc. became a public company via an initial public offering.the company opened its first hotel, the twin bridges motor hotel, in arlington, virginia, on january 16, 1957.it cost $9 per night, plus an extra $1 for every person that was in the car.its second hotel, the key bridge marriott in rosslyn, arlington, virginia, was opened in 1959 and is marriott international's longest continuously operating hotel.hot shoppes, inc. was renamed the marriott corporation in 1967.in 1976, the company opened two theme parks named marriott's great america in california and in illinois.six flags acquired the latter in 1984, while cedar fair has owned the california park since 2006.marriott believed that it could increase sales and profit margins for the ritz-carlton, a troubled chain with many properties either losing money or barely breaking even.the cost to marriott was estimated to have been about $200 million in cash and assumed debt.the next year, marriott spent $331 million to acquire the ritz-carlton, atlanta, and buy a majority interest in two properties owned by william johnson, a real estate developer who had purchased the ritz-carlton, boston in 1983 and expanded his ritz-carlton holdings over the next twenty years.ritz-carlton expanded into the timeshare market.ritz carlton benefited from marriott's reservation system and buying power.in 1998, marriott acquired majority ownership of the ritz-carlton.in 1997, the company acquired the renaissance hotels and ramada brands from chow tai fook group and its associate company, new world development.marriott international also signed an agreement to manage hotels owned by new world development.in 2001, the marriott world trade center was destroyed during the september 11 attacks.in 2003, the company completed the corporate spin-off of its senior living properties (now part of sunrise senior living) and marriott distribution services.in 2004, the company sold its right to the ramada brand to cendant, acquired in 1997.in 2005, marriott international and marriott vacation club international were two of the 53 entities that contributed the maximum of $250,000 to the second inauguration of george w. bush.on july 19, 2006, marriott implemented a smoking ban in all buildings it operated in the united states and canada effective september 2006.in 2007, marriott became the first hotel chain to serve food that is completely free of trans fats at all of its north american properties.hotels franchised or operated by the company were affected by the 2003 marriott hotel bombing, the islamabad marriott hotel bombing in 2008, and the 2009 jakarta bombings.
reinjuring | surnay | cusser
no related information