Marriott International said it expects North American hotels' revenue per available room will drop by 13 to 14 percent in the fourth quarter, a slight improvement over earlier projections.

In October, Marriott projected that RevPAR, a measure of profitability in the hotel industry, for hotels in North America would fall between 13 percent and 16 percent.

The company's hotels elsewhere in the world are expected to see RevPAR fall by 14 to 16 percent for the fourth quarter, in line with Marriott's earlier outlook, the hotelier said in a release on Thursday.

Marriott, the largest U.S. hotel operator by market capitalization, will release fourth-quarter earnings on February 11.

Marriott shares closed 11 cents higher at $27.98 on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman; Editing by Richard Chang)