Starwood is continuing its expansion into China, where it already has 62 hotels with another 86 in the pipeline. Now through 2011, one in every three new Starwood hotels will open in the country, including new flagships for eight of its nine brands: Sheraton, Four Points by Sheraton, Westin, Le Meridien, St. Regis, W, Aloft, and the Luxury Collection.
“China is one of the world’s fastest growing domestic and outbound travel markets,” says Frits van Paasschen, Starwood’s president and CEO. “Demand continues to outpace supply in China, and there is still a long runway for growth especially when you consider that China has 171 cities with populations of more than 1 million, most of which do not yet have a major international branded hotel. It is not hard to imagine that we will ultimately have as many hotels in China as we do in the United States, which is more than 450.”
