Marriott International, Inc., is a leading worldwide hospitality company. Its heritage can be traced to a root beer stand opened in Washington DC, in 1927 by J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott. Today, Marriott International has nearly 2,800 lodging properties located in the United States and 66 other countries and territories. The Marriott is one of the world’s largest lodging companies; they consist of worldwide operations and franchises of hotels and lodging facilities. Their operations are grouped as into the following five business segments: