How Hilton created 20,000 jobs last year

WASHINGTON — The D.C. region’s two hometown hotel giants continue to get even bigger.

Bethesda-based Marriott International Inc. expects to close on its acquisition of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide this summer, creating the world’s largest hotel company with about 5,500 properties globally.

Now McLean-based Hilton Worldwide is touting its own organic growth in 2015, reaching more than 4,600 properties around the world.

Hilton says it opened an average of one new hotel a day in 2015, creating about 20,000 new jobs.

Hilton’s growth is accelerating.

Hilton signed a record 100,000 rooms for development last year, adding to its existing pipeline — or hotels either in development or already under construction — of 275,000 rooms.

Both Hilton and Marriott remain a big part of the D.C. region’s economy. Both are among the metro area’s largest employers.

Marriott has more than 15,000 employees based here. Hilton, which moved its headquarters from Beverly Hills, California to Northern Virginia in 2009, has more than 7,200 employees in the D.C. area.