Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc (NYSE:HOT) announces that its Sheraton brand will open seven more hotels in China before the end of September. News of these openings coincides with a month-long relocation of Starwood’s global headquarters to Shanghai, China.
In the next two years, nearly half of all new Starwood hotels slated to open in China will fly the Sheraton flag. This summer, Sheraton will open its second hotel in Beijing, its second in Xian, and its first in Chongqing, Yantai, Guangzhou, Zhenjiang, Wanning and Hangzhou. This surge in new hotel openings will grow the Sheraton brand’s footprint not only in China’s largest and most established cities, but also in many of the country’s fast-growing metropolises and resort destinations. With the addition of these seven hotels, Sheraton will grow its portfolio to 42 hotels in China by year’s end, moving Starwood closer to its goal of operating 100 hotels in China by the end of 2012.
“The remarkable success of Sheraton in China continues to drive Starwood’s growth and widen its position as the country’s leading operator of four and five star hotels,” said Hoyt Harper, global brand leader for Sheraton Hotels & Resorts. “Sheraton is focused on meeting the needs of Chinese travellers within China, as well as across our portfolio of more than 400 hotels around the world.”
China will play an outsized role in global travel over the next decade, with 100 million outbound travellers expected by 2015. China also continues to be the richest source of new loyal travellers for Starwood, as evidenced by the 71% jump in Chinese enrolment in Starwood Preferred Guest last year. Starwood’s first-mover advantage in China dates back to 1985 with the landmark debut of The Great Wall Sheraton Hotel in Beijing, the first international branded hotel in China.
“The rich legacy of the Sheraton brand in China has given Starwood a considerable head start in this fertile market, where we now have 74 hotels flying eight of Starwood’s nine brand flags and another 90 in development,” said Miguel Ko, Chairman and President of Starwood’s Asia-Pacific Division, a Chinese native who began his career with Starwood in 1979. “We attribute our success in China to our longstanding native Chinese teams plus our strong relationships with local owners who recognise the tremendous benefits of joining the Starwood network.”
