Powering ahead in Asia Pacific, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. has today announced it has surpassed the 200th hotel milestone with a flurry of recent openings in China, India, Thailand and Malaysia.
Starwood continues to widen its lead as the largest operator of four and five star hotels in Asia Pacific with plans to reach over 320 hotels by 2014.
“The opening of our 200th hotel in Asia Pacific underscores the vitality of this market and its importance to our future growth,” said Frits van Paasschen, President & CEO of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. “Demand for our high-caliber brands continues to soar across Asia’s many dynamic markets, driven by phenomenal economic growth and significant increases in outbound travel, particularly from China and India.”
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Miguel Ko: Our brands and our strong teams
“In 2001, Starwood had around 80 hotels in all of Asia Pacific, just ten years later we are celebrating the opening of our 200th hotel,” said Miguel Ko, President, Starwood’s Asia Pacific Division. “Through the strength of our brands and our strong teams, we’ve more than doubled our footprint and added over 40,000 jobs to the region. Starwood’s momentum continues, we will open nearly 35 hotels in 2012 and welcome over 10,000 new associates to our team.”
China will play an outsized role in global travel within the next decade as one of the world’s fastest growing travel markets, with 100 million outbound travelers expected by 2015. India is now Starwood’s fourth largest market and a close second to China in terms of future hotel development.
Starwood is experiencing robust demand in many of Asia’s other fast-growing economies including Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. In Indonesia, Starwood will add another four hotels by 2012 to its current portfolio of 12 properties.
With the opening of Aloft Bangkok Sukhumvit 11, Thailand will be the first country in the South East Asia region to have eight out of nine Starwood brands
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