Strong regional growth for Starwood in 2013

Dubai: Starwood Hotels & Resorts signed eight hotel management agreements in the Middle East in 2013, the hotel company said.

Globally, Starwood signed 152 hotel management and franchise agreements and opened 74 hotels, with 16,200 rooms in 22 countries in 2013, the US hotel company said in a statement on Thursday. It added that the signings, of which 40 per cent were in developed markets, saw a 16 per cent increase over 2012. Fast-growing markets, which include Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia and Colombia, accounted for around 75 per cent of Starwood’s development pipeline and 60 per cent of the signings in 2013.

Conversions are stepping up in the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Europe, according to the statement. Starwood signed two conversion deals in the Middle East in 2013, including Four Points by Sheraton Riyadh Khaldia.

The company said that it expects 2014 to be a strong year, with hotel openings and deal signings across all nine brands. “There is a global travel revolution underway, and the secular trends of rising wealth, rapid urbanisation and increasing digital interconnectivity make us as confident as ever about demand for high-end travel,” Frits van Paasschen, president and CEO of Starwood, said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Starwood opened six luxury hotels in 2013, including the St. Regis Abu Dhabi, the brand’s second hotel in the emirate and third hotel in the Middle East. This year, the company expects to open 10 luxury hotels, including a property under The Luxury Collection brand in Ajman and Broumana in Lebanon.

Makkah is expected to see hotels under the Sheraton, Westin and Four Points by Sheraton brands in 2015.

Sheraton, the company’s upscale brand, is expected to be introduced in a number of markets this year, including Samoa, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. It will re-enter Iraq with the opening of Sheraton Dohuk Hotel.

Also, mid-market brand Aloft is likely to open this year in Riyadh.