Marriott International

Marriott International is a leading hotel services company with approximately 2,800 Marriott hotels located in the United States and 66 other countries and territories. The company is headquartered in Washington, D.C. At the end of 2005, the total number of employees was 143,000.

History

Marriott International started in 1927, when a young American, John Willard Marriott, and his wife, Alice, started a family business by opening a small bar in Washington to sell carbonated beverages for just nine seats. A little later, when hot food was added to cold snacks, the restaurant was named The Hot Shoppe, which later became the name of the company under whose brand the restaurant chain emerged and developed rapidly. Ten years later, John Marriott signed contracts with Eastern, American and Capital Airlines, and his firm became the first supplier of ready-made lunches for airline flights. In 1957, the company opened its first hotel, the Twin Bridges Marriott Motor Hotel in Arlington, Virginia (now home to the Marriott Museum). In 1964, the 32-year-old son of the company's founder became its president and began its restructuring - new rights to air transportation services were purchased, restaurant chains and hotels were bought. A few years later, in 1969, Marriott established itself on the international market by opening the Paraiso Hotel in Acapulco.