By James Wilkinson in Hong Kong

The president and managing director of international lodging for Marriott International, Ed Fuller, has said is confident of the MICE sector remaining strong in the Asia Pacific region despite the global economic downturn.

“We can assume that in a downturn some decisions in time will be made, but in the long run, we are very positive and we are continuing to book future bookings,” Fuller told SpiceNews at the 19th Annual Hotel Investment Conference for Asia-Pacific (HICAP) in Hong Kong.

Marriott’s Ed Fuller

Fuller’s sentiments were reflected by other hotel executives at HICAP, where delegates remained optimistic about the global accommodation industry.

Fuller added that Marriott properties Australia continue to perform well in the MICE sector.

“Australia is relatively strong right now when you consider the world global market,” he said. “But there may be some turn downs as we have seen in different parts of the world.”