With hotel conglomerates InterContinental Hotels Group and Hilton already having made further inroads into the Chinese market, US-based hotel company Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide is to launch its newest expansion plans for Greater China.
While Starwood currently operates around 100 hotels in the Asia Pacific region, the company has announced that another 100 hotels are in the pipeline for the area. Greater China is the company’s second largest market, outside of the US.
The company previously opened 11 hotels in China in 2012, and intends to open another 13 hotels by the year-end.
Speaking at the celebrations at the Sheraton Shanghai Hongkou Hotel for the company’s Asia Pacific Investor Day, Vasant Prabhu, vice chairman and chief financial officer of the company, said, ‘Our celebration of our more than 100 hotels in operation and 100 hotels in the pipeline marks another significant milestone for Starwood’s growth and development in China as we double our footprint in the region. Our success in China reflects our first mover advantage, the strength of our brands and the entrusted partnerships we have fostered with our developers, partners, and guests since our first landmark debut with The Great Wall Sheraton Hotel in Beijing in 1985.’
Sheraton Hotels is expected to play the lead in the company’s expansion plans in the region, by offering around 90 hotels in Greater China by 2016.
Simon Turner, the company president for global development, said, ‘With more high end hotels in China today than any of our competitors, our long lead will be enhanced by the record number of new hotels we have in our pipeline.’
