[photopress:hotels_starwood_bonke.jpg,full,alignright]The hotel building boom in China continues undiminished. Luxury hotel operator Starwood Hotels and Resorts plans to add 70 new properties in China in the next three years.
Oliver Bonke, senior vice-president of sales and marketing at Starwood Asia-Pacific and seen in our illustration, said the Chinese hotels will make up the bulk of the 100 to be added across the Asia-Pacific region.
He said, ‘China will get more Starwood hotels than any other countries in the world.’
Oliver Bonke was in China recently signing hotel deals. The group now operates 40 hotels in the country.
Starwood has signed contracts for two Shanghai hotels and for a Westin and a St Regis hotel in Jiangsu provincial capital Nanjing.
That brings to 13 the number of hotel deals Starwood has signed in the first 11 weeks of the year. Last year, it added 50 new hotels in the country.
The hotel operator plans to open 15 new hotels in China this year. Its Aloft hotel, a limited service version of the W brand, is also expected to open in Beijing this year ahead of the Olympic Games in August. Five W hotels are planned for China.
Starwood owns eight brands including Sheraton, Four Points by Sheraton, Westin, St Regis, Le Meridien, Aloft and W.
Source: China Daily