What it does
The company states that it is a worldwide franchisor, operator, and licensor of hotel, residential, timeshare, and other lodging properties. Its focus is on franchising, management, and licensing, and it says it owns or leases very few lodging properties. The filing describes a portfolio of brands across Classic and Distinctive styles and Luxury, Premium, Select, and Midscale tiers, with longer-stay brands classified across multiple tiers. It also uses or licenses certain trademarks for branded residential real estate, often alongside hotel development.
Source: Marriott International, Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal 2025, Item 1 — sec.gov
How it makes money
The company states that it receives application fees, continuing royalty fees, and reimbursements for centralized programs and services under hotel franchise arrangements. It also receives royalty and other fees through license and other agreements covering certain offerings. For company-operated hotels, it earns base management fees tied to hotel revenue and incentive management fees tied to hotel profits. The filing also describes residential branding fees, continuing association management or license fees, and payments under co-branded credit-card arrangements. Hotel owners generally bear hotel operating costs, including centralized programs and services, under management agreements.
Source: Marriott International, Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal 2025, Item 1 — sec.gov
Customers and geography
The filing identifies four reportable business segments: U.S. & Canada, Europe, Middle East & Africa, Greater China, and Asia Pacific excluding China. It includes the Caribbean & Latin America operating segment in Unallocated corporate and other because it does not meet the criteria for separate reportable-segment disclosure. The company serves guests through lodging properties and its Loyalty Program, whose members can earn and redeem points for stays and other awards. Its business also involves hotel owners, franchisees, licensees, residential developers, homeowners’ associations, and co-branded credit-card partners.
Source: Marriott International, Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal 2025, Item 1 — sec.gov
Competition
The filing describes competition in hospitality on brand recognition and reputation, location, guest satisfaction, room rates, service, accommodations, amenities, and loyalty programs and offerings. It names regional, national, and international lodging chains, unaffiliated lodging properties, and short-term-rental platforms as competitors. The filing specifically names Airbnb and Vrbo; Hilton, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Hyatt, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Accor, Choice Hotels, and Best Western Hotels & Resorts; and online travel platforms Expedia.com, Priceline.com, Booking.com, Travelocity.com, Orbitz.com, and Trip.com. It also names Google, Bing, Yahoo, and Baidu as search engines competing with its direct digital channels.
Source: Marriott International, Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal 2025, Item 1 — sec.gov
Key risks
The filing gives prominence to the following risks:
- The hospitality industry is highly competitive, which may affect the company’s ability to compete successfully for guests.
- Premature termination of agreements with hotel owners could materially hurt financial performance.
- Hotel owners depend on capital to buy, develop, and improve hotels and may be unable to access it when necessary.
- Disruption of reservation, Loyalty Program, or other core operational systems, or use of certain new technologies, could adversely affect the business.
- Insurance related to the Data Security Incident may be costly, insufficient, or unavailable for all related expenses or losses.
- Anti-takeover provisions under Delaware law and the company’s governing documents could deter takeover attempts.
Source: Marriott International, Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal 2025, Item 1A — sec.gov
People and operations
At year-end 2025, the company managed the employment of approximately 414,000 associates. The filing says this includes associates employed by Marriott and associates employed by hotel owners whose employment Marriott manages; it excludes personnel employed by independent franchisees, licensees, and management companies hired by them. For hotels it operates, the company generally hires, trains, and supervises hotel associates, while hotel owners generally bear operating costs. The filing states that hotel business generally fluctuates moderately by season, though some resort properties may be more seasonal depending on location.
Source: Marriott International, Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal 2025, Item 1 — sec.gov