Marriott International has signed five hotels for its newly established Middle East & Africa Region, including its first properties in Algeria, Ghana and Morocco.

The hotels are scheduled to open under long-term management contracts over the next 36 months and represent the company's Marriott Hotels & Resorts and Marriott Executive Apartments brands. The properties announced today add 1,126 rooms to Marriott's Middle East and Africa development pipeline, which now totals 44 hotels and 10,800 rooms under construction or in advanced planning. Marriott's first hotels in Algeria are to be the 227-room Algiers Marriott and the 180-unit Algiers Marriott Executive Apartments properties. Both are scheduled to open in 2012, are owned by Trust Real Estate SPA and will be part of a secure mixed-use development 3km north of Algiers airport.

The company's sixth resort on the Red Sea and eighth hotel in Egypt is to be the 294-room Sahl Hasheesh Marriott Beach Resort. Scheduled to be rebranded in 2011, it is a conversion from the existing The Old Palace Resort and is owned by Red Sea Hotels Co. Sub-Saharan Africa is to see its first Marriott hotel in the shape of the 209-room Accra Marriott in Ghana, which is scheduled to open in late 2010. Owned by African Hospitality, the hotel will be a short distance from Kotoka International Airport.

Marriott's first Moroccan hotel will be the 216-room Marrakech Marriott Palm Golf Hotel, expected to open in 2012. The hotel is owned by a joint venture between J. Partners and Domaine Palm Marrakech SAS. It will be part of a large master development community that will also include an 18-hole golf course, a country club and 250 luxury residences. A key focal point of the Marrakech development is to be its commitment to achieving 'Haute Qualite Environmentale' certification, a European scheme similar to the US Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification programme in the United States.

Ed Fuller, president and managing director international lodging for Marriott, said: "The opening of our new regional headquarters in Dubai recognises the dynamic nature of tourism in the Middle East and the emergence of Africa as a viable destination for business and leisure travel. "The Middle East appears to have weathered the global economic storm and we're beginning to look forward to rising occupancies through the end of this year and into next."

Pic: Marriott's first Moroccan hotel will be in Marrakech