Arne Sorenson, the President and CEO of Marriott, participates in a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and tourism industry executives on coronavirus (COVID-19) response in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., March 17, 2020. — Photo by REUTERS/Leah Millis

(Reuters) - Marriott International (MAR.O) has reopened all its hotels in China and is seeing a steady recovery in the United States, its biggest market, Chief Executive Officer Arne Sorenson said on Monday.

Shares of the hotel operator, which owns the Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis luxury brands, rose as much as 8.1% to $95.64 in afternoon trading after Sorenson said the occupancy rate in China was 40% currently, up from 7% to 8% in February, when COVID-19 started spreading.

"It's not just leisure travel growing, but it is business travel. Chinese are flying again," Sorenson said at a Goldman Sachs conference.

In the United States, Marriott's hotels that remained open crossed the 20% occupancy threshold and continue to see an improvement, Sorenson said.

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