Starwood Hotels & Resorts to have more hotels in Hainan than Hawaii

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT) said yesterday the company will open 20 new hotels in China in 2013. Having doubled its footprint here in the last three years, Starwood has 120 hotels open and more than 100 in the pipeline, making China the company’s second largest hotel market behind only the United States, and its fastest growing. Starwood President and CEO Frits van Paasschen who is in China this week participating in the Fortune Global Forum in Chengdu said the company will open one new hotel every 20 days here 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 program 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.”

With over 170 cities with a population over 1 million, the runway to grow in China continues to be long. Adding to Starwood’s long established presence in China’s major cities, the company is focused on expansion in second and third tier cities. Starwood’s upper upscale Sheraton, Westin and Le Meridien brands continue to be sought after for new central business districts and government administrative centres in second tier cities. Starwood’s Four Points by Sheraton and Aloft brands fit well in newly developed high-tech, industry and university parks as well as near high speed railway stations and cities in early stages of urbanisation, in addition to ongoing expansion in established markets.

Demand for luxury hotels throughout China continues to grow and over the next few years Starwood will double its luxury footprint here. W Hotels, which just opened the W Guangzhou earlier this year, will open new flagships in Beijing and Shanghai as well as hotels in, Suzhou, Changsha and Chengdu. St. Regis, Starwood’s ultra-luxury brand, will build on its well established presence in China in markets including Beijing, Shenzhen and Sanya with new hotels in Changsha, Chengdu, Lijiang, Qingshui Bay, Zhuhai and Nanjing while Starwood’s Luxury Collection will expand in Dalian, Hangzhou, Nanning, Xiamen, Nanjing and Suzhou.

Just as important as opening new hotels, Starwood is focused on cultivating loyalty among China’s new mega travellers. Since 2010, the company has doubled its base of active travellers in Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG), the company’s loyalty program. Growth in SPG’s base of travellers continues to grow at a rapid pace, and today, SPG enrols a new member every 20 seconds in China, and elite gold and platinum members who stay 25+ nights a year are up 53% over last year. Globally, 50% of Starwood’s guests are SPG members, and in China, 55% of rooms are filled through SPG.