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Marriott emerged as the best hotelier in the 2017 Forbes Global 2000 list, an annual ranking of the best public companies in the world.
Maryland-based Marriott rose to the 467th spot from number 777 last year after it bought rival Starwood for US$13 billion last September, making it the largest hotel chain in the globe.
The massive acquisition gave the firm a significant advantage as it now owns or manages more than 6,000 hotels with over 1 million rooms. It also has more than 30 brands and a presence across 122 countries.
Marriott’s assets and market value, two metrics used for the ranking, also surged to US$24 billion (S$33.37 billion) and US$35 billion (S$48.66 billion) respectively, compared to US$6 billion and US$17 billion in 2016.
This propelled the company to the number one spot for the hotel segment of the Forbes Global 2000 list for this year.
On the other hand, Hilton Hotels fell to the 767th spot from number 476 previously after it spun off its property assets and timeshare businesses into two separate entities last year.
Completing the top five in the Forbes Global 2000 for 2017 are Wyndham, IHC and French hotelier Accor.
This article was edited by Denise Djong.