Starwood to open 40 hotels in Mena in 5 years

Dubai Starwood Hotels & Resorts yesterday said it will open 40 hotels in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) over the next five years, primarily in the luxury and upper-upscale segments, a nearly 60 per cent jump in the portfolio.

The US-based company has nearly 70 hotels in the region and is looking to strengthen its position as the leading operator in Mena by adding more than 13,000 rooms by 2017.

In the Middle East alone, Starwood is looking to operate 50 hotels by the end of this year, up from the current 48, Gudio E De Wilde, Starwood Hotels & Resorts senior vice-president and regional director for the Middle East, told Gulf News in a recent interview.

"From a development point of view, we are very busy in 2012. We will be operating 50 hotels by the end of 2012. In addition to that, we have 30 hotels under development. So we will go to a total of 80 hotels in the next five years," he said.

Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region accounts for 24 per cent of Starwood's global revenue, according to De Wilde.

Meanwhile, in the past 18 months, Starwood has opened six hotels in Mena and has concluded deals for 10 additional hotels, said the company, which also recently announced its re-entry into Iraq after a 20-year break.

Growth

"Despite economic and political uncertainty in parts of the region, Starwood continues to see demand for growth of all of our brands across the Middle East and North Africa," Frits van Paasschen, Starwood president and CEO, said in a statement.

He said the region is key to Starwood's global expansion strategy, representing the company's second largest growth market after China.

Starwood recently signed a Dh4.8 billion deal with the Al Habtoor Group to manage the Al Habtoor Palace — the erstwhile Metropolitan complex on Dubai's Shaikh Zayed Road, scheduled for handover in 2017.

Portfolio

As part of the deal, the company will bring on board three hotels from its portfolio including the first St Regis hotel in Dubai, a W Hotel and a new Westin, adding 1,675 rooms.

Starwood operates 15 hotels in Dubai, the largest concentration of Starwood hotels in any single city outside New York, the company said in a statement.

Expansion: Plans for palm Jumeirah

Plans are also afoot to open a W Hotel on The Palm Jumeirah in 2016. Starwood's contemporary, design-led lifestyle brand, W Hotels Worldwide has signed an agreement with Al Sharq Investment LLC to debut the W Dubai — The Palm, the company said yesterday in a separate statement. "This signing marks an important milestone in our overall growth strategy to expand the W brand in primary cities throughout the Middle East including Doha, Amman, Muscat, Abu Dhabi and Dubai," said Roeland Vos, president, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Europe, Africa and Middle East.

— S.J.