On Tuesday, Marriott International said that they are planning to double their presence in Europe. The company currently operates 174 hotels and 40,000 rooms in Europe, and they want to have 80,000 rooms by 2015. Arne Sorenson, the Marriott International chief operating officer, said that they are thrilled to see their growth continue into secondary cities and emerging markets in Europe after already having hotels established in gateway cities.

Marriott already has about 30 projects in the pipeline for this plan, including hotels going up in Ankara, Budapest and Moscow. They are planning to introduce two new hotel brands to Europe. Edition will be a boutique hotel brand created by hotelier Ian Schrager in collaboration with Marriott. The other new brand will be the Autograph Collection, which will be upscale, luxury and independent hotels and resorts.

This decision comes after the outlook for US industry growth declined significantly amid a dramatic fall in room rates and a rise in reluctant lenders. Hotel companies are now having to look to other countries to add properties. Overall, the US is seeing a 36% decline in new hotels from the year before. Even Hilton Worldwide says that 37% of their new room pipeline is outside the US now compared to the 15% of two years ago.

Marriott International president and managing director for Europe Amy McPherson believes that the new Autograph Collection will be attractive in Europe. The brand will allow independent hotels to access the company’s reservation system and customer database without going through name changes or costly renovations. She added that about 20% of the new European hotel rooms came from 2009 conversions, and the rest were new hotels.