Across the world, Marriott International, Inc. recently celebrated its ever-increasing customer base with a week-long festival of community engagement, known as Global Customer Appreciation Week (GCAW) which was held on Oct. 28 until Nov. 1. As part of this international event, Jeddah Marriott Hotel executives and sales team have taken time to call guests and thank them for their patronage, visiting VIP customers in their offices, took a pleasure in hosting an executive lunch where top level clients were invited. In addition to this, associates from the hotel went out to visit the Children's Association were children did a cake decoration activity with the Marriott's chef. Marriott International manages 12,237 rooms across 44 properties in the Middle East and Africa region - and these numbers are set to double over the next five years with 48 new hotels in the pipeline, adding 11,567 rooms to the regional portfolio. The group is in the process of recruiting an additional 12,000 employees. The company's regional commitment to growth is backed by the most recent figures from the UNWTO – the World Tourism Organization - revealing a four per cent growth in tourists visiting Africa and an incredible growth in tourists of 13 percent visiting the Middle East in the first nine months of 2013. — SG
