Starwood’s Sheraton brand is the driving force behind the group’s expansion in Mainland China, with 16 new properties poised to open this year in the country, out of 25 worldwide.
Currently, Sheraton makes up 30 percent of the group’s total global development pipeline and 50 percent of Starwood's development pipeline in China. Simon Turner, president of global development for Starwood, said: “Sheraton is the number one contributor to Starwood’s global growth and has given us a significant lead in many fast-developing markets. In China, which is now Starwood’s second largest market after North America, we are expanding the brand's presence in the country’s biggest cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, as well as in rapidly developing urban centres including Guangzhou, Wanning and Hangzhou.”
Of the 16 Sheraton hotels opening in the Mainland this year, the group will plant its fourth Sheraton in Shanghai, its second in Beijing and its first two in Guangzhou, which will bring the brand's China portfolio to 53 by the end of 2011.
According to Turner, the rapid expansion of the Sheraton brand has consequentially also fuelled the growth of its midscale sister brand Four Points by Sheraton, which is set to double its presence in China within the next three years.
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Alisha Haridasani
