* Sees worldwide Q1 revPAR up 7 pct
* Prior forecast had put Q1 revPAR up 7 pct-9 pct
* Shares down 6.2 pct, hotel index down 3.7 pct (Adds hotels index, outlook, revPAR details)
NEW YORK, March 28 (Reuters) - Marriott International Inc anticipates an important financial measure coming in at the low end of its previous outlook, due to unexpectedly low results in cities like New York, the hotel operator said on Monday.
Marriott had said revenue per available room, which multiplies the occupancy rate by the room rate, would be up 7 percent in the first quarter, at the low end of the 7 percent to 9 percent range previously forecast worldwide.
International revPAR would be up 11 percent, but North American revPAR was forecast to rise only between 5 percent and 6 percent due to lower-than-expected growth in New York, Atlanta, Orlando and Washington, D.C.
At an investment conference in Las Vegas, Marriott Chief Financial Officer Carl Berquist will reiterate the company's first-quarter earnings outlook of 24 cents to 28 cents per share, the company said.
Hotel companies' shares were down 3.7 percent, according to the Dow Jones United States Hotels index.
Marriott's shares, which had already fallen on a downgrade to "neutral" by Goldman Sachs, fell 6.2 percent to $35.32 during morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Helen Chernikoff, editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Maureen Bavdek)