Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc. announced Tuesday, March 12, that it will be opening 50 new hotels by 2017 in the regions of Middle East and Africa (MEA). The step comes as an effort to expand into the developing economies of the world.
Starwood Hotels, owner of affluent hotel brands like The Sheraton and Le Meridien, currently has around 82 hotels in the MEA region with a total of 22,000 rooms. The company hopes to increase its portfolio by adding 14,000 more guest rooms and increasing its investments by over 60 percent.
"Starwood continues to see demand for growth of all of our brands across the Middle East and Africa despite economic and political uncertainty in some parts of this incredibly diverse region. Rapid economic growth, rising personal incomes, a growing middle class and ever greater global connectivity are driving new travel patterns and demand for travel, and this region is at the center of these trends and a key focus of our growth strategy," Frits van Paasschen, CEO of Starwood, said in a statement.
The other major milestones that were highlighted in the statement were:
* Starwood will concentrate most of its portfolio expansion in the UAE. The company will open 12 new hotels in the region.
* It will be adding six new hotels to the existing nine in Saudi Arabia by 2015.
* The company will be re-entering the commercial market of Iraq. It will be opening three new hotels across three brands in the city of Erbil, Kurdistan.
* Operations of the company will gain momentum in Nigeria with two Starwood hotels. Algeria will also get two new hotels in Oran and Annaba.
* Starwood will be launching its new brand - Aloft Hotels in Saudi Arabia and Iraq. One Aloft hotel will open in Sharjah, UAE.
Starwood recently shifted its global headquarters to Dubai for a month to focus more on its international portfolio expansion.
"With 80 per cent of Starwood's pipeline coming from rapidly growing markets, it is simply not possible to lead a truly global business from a boardroom in Connecticut," van Paasschen said in a statement. "Rising wealth and ever greater global connectivity are creating a once-in-a-lifetime growth opportunity for our business - by fueling new demand, changing travel patterns, and entirely new travel markets. Dubai epitomises this changing face of travel, and we expect this relocation will deepen our relationships with partners, associates and customers. Just as with our one-month relocation to China in 2011, our time in-market will spark new ideas that will fortify our position as the most global high-end hotel company."
The company currently operates around 169 luxury hotels in 39 countries and has 1134 properties, worldwide.
