Sheraton Hotels Drive Starwood’s Portfolio Growth

The Sheraton brand continues to lead Starwood's global growth with twenty-five new Sheraton hotels scheduled to open this year, including 16 in cities across China. Sheraton will also lead Starwood's future global expansion and represents 30% of the company's total development pipeline.

"Sheraton is the number one contributor to Starwood's global growth and has given us a significant lead in many fast-developing markets," said Simon Turner, President of Global Development for Starwood. "In China, which is now Starwood's second largest market after North America, Sheraton is expanding its presence in the country's biggest cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, as well as in rapidly developing urban centers including Guangzhou, Wanning and Hangzhou. The strength of Sheraton is also driving meaningful growth for sister brand Four Points by Sheraton, which is set to double its footprint in China over the next three years."

This year, Sheraton will open its fourth hotel in Shanghai, its second in Beijing and its first two hotels in Guangzhou. With the addition of 16 new hotels in 2011, Sheraton will increase its portfolio in China to 53 by year's end, moving Starwood closer to its goal of operating 100 hotels in China by the end of 2012.

"Sheraton has leveraged its first-mover advantage in China, where we are now one of the country's strongest global brands and the engine of Starwood's growth," said Hoyt Harper, global brand leader for Sheraton Hotels & Resorts. "Our recent brand-wide revitalization and significant investment in new hotel development has also fueled our expansion in many other key markets, including India, Japan and South Korea."

Sheraton will open its first Sheraton in Bangalore in 2011. Also this year, Sheraton will open its first hotel in Hiroshima, Japan, its second in Seoul, South Korea and its second in Montreal, Canada.

Within more mature markets like North America, the brand expects to continue to fuel its growth through high quality conversion opportunities.

Starwood's largest brand, Sheraton boasts a current portfolio of more than 400 hotels in 72 countries. Following the completion of its $6 billion brand-wide revitalization, Sheraton is investing another $5 billion to add more than 50 new hotels to its portfolio by the end of 2013.

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