Financial Information
Operational Risks
Premature termination of our management or franchise agreements could hurt our financial performance. Our hotel management and franchise agreements may be subject to premature termination in certain circumstances, such as the bankruptcy of a hotel owner or franchisee, or a failure under some agreements to meet specified financial or performance criteria that are subject to the risks described in this section, which the Company fails or elects not to cure. A significant loss of agreements due to premature terminations could hurt our financial performance or our ability to grow our business.
Our lodging operations are subject to global, regional, and national conditions. Because we conduct our business on a global platform, our activities are affected by changes in global and regional economies. In recent years, our business has been hurt by decreases in travel resulting from weak economic conditions and the heightened travel security measures that have resulted from the threat of further terrorism. Our future performance could be similarly affected by the economic environment in each of the regions in which we operate, the resulting unknown pace of business travel, and the occurrence of any future incidents in those regions.
The growing significance of our operations outside of the United States also makes us increasingly susceptible to the risks of doing business internationally, which could lower our revenues, increase our costs, reduce our profits, or disrupt our business. We currently operate or franchise hotels and resorts in 74 countries, and our operations outside the United States represented approximately 16 percent of our revenues in 2012. We expect that the international share of our total revenues will increase in future years. As a result, we are increasingly exposed to the challenges and risks of doing business outside the United States, which could reduce our revenues or profits, increase our costs, result in significant liabilities or sanctions, or otherwise disrupt our business. These challenges include: (1) compliance with complex and changing laws, regulations and policies of governments that may impact our operations, such as foreign ownership restrictions, import and export controls, and trade restrictions; (2) compliance with U.S. and foreign laws that affect the activities of companies abroad, such as anti-corruption laws, competition laws, currency regulations, and laws affecting dealings with certain nations; (3) limitations on our ability to repatriate non-U.S. earnings in a tax effective manner; (4) the difficulties involved in managing an organization doing business in many different countries; (5) uncertainties as to the enforceability of contract and intellectual property rights under local laws; (6) rapid changes in government policy, political or civil unrest in the Middle East and elsewhere, acts of terrorism, or the threat of international boycotts or U.S. anti-boycott legislation; and (7) currency exchange rate fluctuations.
Our new programs and new branded products may not be successful. We cannot assure you that our recently launched EDITION, Autograph Collection, and AC Hotels by Marriott brands, our recent acquisition of the Gaylord brand, or any new programs or products we may launch in the future will be accepted by hotel owners, potential franchisees, or the traveling public or other customers. We also cannot be certain that we will recover the costs we incurred in developing or acquiring the brands or any new programs or products, or that the brands or any new programs or products will be successful. In addition, some of our new brands involve or may involve cooperation and/or consultation with one or more third parties, including some shared control over product design and development, sales and marketing, and brand standards. Disagreements with these third parties could slow the development of these new brands and/or impair our ability to take actions we believe to be advisable for the success and profitability of such brands.
Risks relating to natural or man-made disasters, contagious disease, terrorist activity, and war could reduce the demand for lodging, which may adversely affect our revenues. So called “Acts of God,” such as hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, and other natural disasters and man-made disasters in recent years, such as Hurricane Sandy in the Northeastern United States, the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and the spread of contagious diseases in locations where we own, manage, or franchise significant properties and areas of the world from which we draw a large number of customers, could cause a decline in the level of business and leisure travel and reduce the demand for lodging. Actual or threatened war, terrorist activity, political unrest, or civil strife, such as recent events in Syria, Egypt, Libya, and Bahrain, and other geopolitical uncertainty could have a similar effect. Any one or more of these events may reduce the overall demand for hotel rooms and corporate apartments or limit the prices that we can obtain for them, both of which could adversely affect our profits.
Disagreements with the owners of the hotels that we manage or franchise may result in litigation or may delay implementation of product or service initiatives. Consistent with our focus on management and franchising, we own very few of our lodging properties. The nature of our responsibilities under our management agreements to manage each hotel and enforce the standards required for our brands under both management and franchise agreements may be subject to interpretation and will from time to time give rise to disagreements, which may include disagreements over the need for or payment for new product or service initiatives. Such disagreements may be more likely when hotel returns are weaker. We seek to resolve any disagreements in order to develop and maintain positive relations with current and potential hotel owners and joint venture partners but are not always able to do so. Failure to resolve such disagreements has resulted in litigation, and could do so in the future. If any such litigation results in a significant adverse judgment, settlement, or court order, we could suffer significant losses, our profits could be reduced, or our future ability to operate our business could be constrained.
Our business depends on the quality and reputation of our brands, and any deterioration in the quality or reputation of these brands could have an adverse impact on our market share, reputation, business, financial condition, or results of operations. Events that may be beyond our control could affect the reputation of one or more of our properties or more generally impact the reputation of our brands. If the reputation or perceived quality of our brands declines, our market share, reputation, business, financial condition, or results of operations could be affected.
Actions by our franchisees and licensees could adversely affect our image and reputation. We franchise and license many of our brand names and trademarks to third parties in connection with lodging, timeshare, and residential services. Under the terms of their agreements with us, our franchisees and licensees interact directly with customers and other third parties under our brand and trade names. If these franchisees or licensees fail to maintain or act in accordance with applicable brand standards, experience operational problems, or project a brand image inconsistent with ours, our image and reputation could suffer. Although our franchise and license agreements provide us with recourse and remedies in the event of a breach by the franchisee or licensee, including termination of the agreements under certain circumstances, pursuing any such recourse, remedy, or termination could be expensive and time consuming. In addition, we cannot assure you that a court would ultimately enforce our contractual termination rights in every instance.
Damage to, or losses involving, properties that we own, manage, or franchise may not be covered by insurance. We have comprehensive property and liability insurance policies with coverage features and insured limits that we believe are customary. Market forces beyond our control may nonetheless limit the scope of the insurance coverage we can obtain or our ability to obtain coverage at reasonable rates. Certain types of losses, generally of a catastrophic nature, such as earthquakes, hurricanes and floods, or terrorist acts, or liabilities that result from breaches in the security of our information systems may be uninsurable or too expensive to justify obtaining insurance. As a result, we may not be successful in obtaining insurance without increases in cost or decreases in coverage levels. In addition, in the event of a substantial loss, the insurance coverage we carry may not be sufficient to pay the full market value or replacement cost of our lost investment or that of hotel owners or in some cases could result in certain losses being totally uninsured. As a result, we could lose some or all of the capital we have invested in a property, as well as the anticipated future revenue from the property, and we could remain obligated for guarantees, debt, or other financial obligations for the property.