Marriott has aggressively acquired new properties and begun building new ones during the past year, adding nearly 26,000 new rooms in 2013.

　　Marriott International’s fourth-quarter results indicated that U.S. luxury demand remained strong while total growth tapered off.

　　Marriott said revenue per available room (RevPAR) in the U.S. increased 4.7% from a year earlier, down from 5.4% for all of 2013.

　　For all full-service and luxury hotels in the U.S., RevPAR rose 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Ritz-Carlton’s RevPAR for U.S. hotels increased 10.4%, and the Autograph Collection’s jumped 16.5%.

　　U.S. RevPAR for Marriott’s flagship badge rose 5.2%, while Courtyard RevPAR increased 4.5%. For Renaissance and Residence Inn hotels in the U.S., RevPAR rose 2.3%

　　The company’s worldwide fourth-quarter RevPAR advanced 4.3%. Growth of 7.1% in the Caribbean and Latin America far exceeded 3.3% growth in Europe and 3.8% growth in Asia Pacific. There was a 10.7% RevPAR decline and a 7-point drop in occupancy in the Middle East and Africa.

　　Marriott’s fourth-quarter net income fell 17% from a year earlier to $151 million, while revenue declined 14% to $3.22 billion, because the accounting period was 20 days shorter than it was the year prior.

　　Marriott is now reporting quarterly results on a calendar basis, and it did not restate last year’s results, which were reported on a period basis.

　　Marriott has aggressively acquired new properties and begun building new ones during the past year, adding nearly 26,000 new rooms in 2013. There are another 195,000 rooms currently in the pipeline to open later.