Starwood Hotels & Resorts plans to open eight Sheraton
properties in China by year-end, the company said this week, and plans to
increase its midprice presence in India.
The upscale Sheraton brand this month opened its 30th
hotel in China, in Zhongshan. Other openings include Sheraton’s first property
in Guangzhou, its third in Shanghai and hotels in Wuxi, Tianjin, Wenzhou,
Jiangyin and Wanning. Additionally, Starwood plans to add another 18 properties
to China by 2015.
“Sheraton is our most prolific brand in China, accounting
for half of Starwood’s current portfolio in this dynamic, fast-growing market,”
Starwood president of global development Simon Turner said in a statement.
“China is leading the recovery in global tourism in 2010, and by 2020, it is
expected to be the world’s largest tourism market.”
Starwood last week also announced that it was expanding the
presence of its midprice Aloft and Four Points by Sheraton brands in India. The
Aloft brand, which came on the scene in 2008 and now has 40 properties open
around the world, has opened properties in Chennai and Bangalore and plans to
open several more in the country throughout the next several years. Starwood
also signed an agreement with an affiliate of Duet India Hotels and JHM
Interstate Hotels India to assist with a major expansion of its Four Points by
Sheraton brand in India.
Overall, Starwood plans to grow its portfolio of 26 hotels
in India by 60 percent by 2013.