Starwood plans major expansion into China

Starwood has more than 100 hotel openings in the pipeline, which is in addition to 120 properties that are already open in China, making it the company’s second largest hotel market behind the US.

Starwood President and CEO Frits van Paasschen said the company will open one new hotel every 20 days in China and that 70 per cent of its pipeline of new hotels under construction and in development are in second and third tier cities.

“We continue to view China as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our business,” said van Paasschen.  “Whether it’s growing our hotel footprint as part of the country’s massive infrastructure development, or aggressively building our loyalty programme in the world’s fastest growing domestic and outbound travel market, we are focused on taking every advantage of our important first-mover position in China.”

Source: http://www.citmagazine.com