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ByScottMayerowitz The Associated Press NEWYORK Hotelbehemoth Marriott International is becoming even larger, tak- ing over rival chain Star- wood in a $12.2 billion deal that will catapult it to be- come the world's largest ho- telier by a wide margin. The stock-and-cash deal, if completed, will add 50 percent more rooms to Mar- riott's portfolio and give it more unique, design-fo- cused hotels that appeal to younger travelers. The acquisition is likely to start another round of hotel mergers. "This causes everybody in the business to look around and say: we don't want to be the smallest," said Bjorn Hanson, a pro- fessor at the Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management at New York University. The latest deal would leave Marriott with 5,500 properties and more than 1.1 million rooms around the world, uniting Star- wood's brands, which in- clude Sheraton, Westin, W and St. Regis, with Marri- ott's two dozen brands in- cluding Marriott's Court- yard, Ritz-Carlton and Fair- field Inn. The transaction is ex- pected to close in the mid- dle of 2016. The next-largest hotel company is Hilton World- wide with 4,500 properties and about 735,000 rooms. "To be successful in to- day's marketplace, a wide distribution of brands and hotels across price points is critical," Starwood CEO Adam Aron said on a call with Wall Street analysts. "Itappeals to travelers wher- ever they may go, leverages marketing and technology spend(ing) and strengthens frequent traveler loyalty. To- day, size matters." Marriott and Starwood — like other hotel chains — own very few individ- ual hotels. Instead they manage or franchise their brands to hundreds of in- dividual owners, often real estate development compa- nies. Those individual hotel owners are responsible for setting nightly room rates. It isn't uncommon for a de- veloper to own a Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt and Sheraton in the same city. The merger will give Marriott 30 brands and more leverage with cor- porate travel departments who often look for one giant chain to house all of their employees. Frequent busi- ness travelers will also be closely watching the deal. Starwood has a beloved fre- quent guest program with partnerships with Amer- ican Express, Delta Air Lines and Uber. Marriott has a much larger program with partnerships with Chase and United Airlines. Marriott CEO Arne So- renson said he was at- tracted to Starwood, in part, because of its loyalty program. He said the mem- bers skew a little younger than Marriott's and the pro- gram is "very valued by elite travelers." "We will take the best of both programs and make sure the bests are pre- served," he said on the an- alyst call. The details will be worked out in the com- ing months. Back in April, Starwood announced its board was exploring strategic options for the hotel company. The Stamford, Connecticut, company has struggled to grow as fast as its rivals, particularly in "limited ser- vice hotels," smaller prop- erties which don't have res- taurants or banquet halls. They are often located on the side of the highway, near airports or in subur- ban office parks. There was speculation in the markets about a po- tential deal with Holiday Inn owner Intercontinen- tal Hotels Group and more recently Hyatt Hotels Corp. But in the end, it was Mar- riott who prevailed. Starwood's strong inter- national presence will aid Marriott. In the past few years, Starwood has made a strong push to grow in China, India, the United Arab Emirates as well as more-established Euro- pean destinations. Marri- ott, in turn, has a well-es- tablished network of hotels including deep coverage of small towns and cities with its Fairfield Inn, Courtyard and Residence Inn brands. The deal comes at a time of record hotel occupancy and rates. During the first nine months of this year, guests filled 67.3 percent of the available rooms in the U.S., according to research firm STR. That's the highest level since STR started collecting data in 1987. Guests paid an average of $120.35 a night so far this year. The prior record, adjusted for infla- tion, was $119.70 in 2008. Marriott, based in Bethesda, Maryland, has been aggressively growing. In April, it acquired Cana- dian chain Delta Hotels and Resorts, helping it become the largest hotel company in Canada. The boards of both com- panies approved the acqui- sition unanimously, which now must be approved by investors in both hotel chains. 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