SVP INTERVIEW: Guido de Wilde

Guido de Wilde, senior vice president, regional director Middle East, Starwood Hotels & Resorts outlines the company’s growth projections and strategic goals for 2013

In what areas do you see the most opportunity for your business to grow in 2013?
Never in Starwood’s history have we had a pipeline of this scale and quality and we are looking to continue to grow globally. Ten years ago, two-thirds of our rooms were in North America and today, 56% of our portfolio is outside the US, and 37% of our hotels are in emerging markets.

In the Middle East, Starwood is a leading operator with more than 40 hotels and 30 in the pipeline. This growth, primarily in the luxury and upper-upscale segments, represents an increase of nearly 50% by the end of 2015.

With more than 70% of the world’s economic growth coming from fast-growing markets over the next few years, we continue to look for opportunities to grow our brands in the Middle East and are focused on expansion in developing markets such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia as well as key emerging markets including Iraq and Tajikistan. Oman and Jordan represent other key growth markets for us in the region.

What is your vision for your mid-market brands?
Starwood is setting its sights on expanding its mid-market brands – Four Points by Sheraton and Aloft – in key markets around the globe where there are increasing opportunities and demand for reliable and affordable hospitality.

Here in the Middle East, we currently have Aloft Abu Dhabi, with 408 rooms, and six Four Points by Sheraton establishments located across the region totalling 1125 rooms.

Looking ahead, we have a Four Points by Sheraton Medina and Four Points by Sheraton Sharjah due to open in 2013, and we are continuing to look for opportunities to grow both brands in the region as we see great potential for their continuing success here.

Aloft is designed to appeal to the next generation of travellers and we expect the fast-growing brand to increase its global portfolio from 55 to more than 70 hotels by 2013. In the Middle East, we have a pipeline of two Aloft properties in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Sharjah in the UAE.

What other hotels are in the pipeline to open in 2013 in the Middle East?
In the first quarter we will be opening The St. Regis Abu Dhabi, the brand’s second hotel in Abu Dhabi which will feature the world’s highest suspended presidential suite.

During the same period we will open the Sheraton Dubai Mall of the Emirates Hotel, further expanding our footprint in Dubai. Also in the UAE, Starwood will be making its debut in Sharjah and Ajman with the openings of Sheraton Sharjah, Four Points by Sheraton Sharjah and The Ajman Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel.

In 2013, Starwood will expand its portfolio in Saudi Arabia with Sheraton Medina and Four Points by Sheraton Medina, marking the debut of the Four Points brand in the country.

In addition, we are extending the inventory of Le Méridien Dubai by another 200 luxury rooms and the Four Points by Sheraton Kuwait is adding another tower with 220 rooms. Both extensions will be launched by Q3 2013.

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Please outline your strategy for 2013?
The MENA region represents our second largest growth market after China, and it continues to evolve as an international and leisure travel hub.

To underscore the importance of the Middle East as one of Starwood’s fastest-growing markets, Dubai was selected as the site of Starwood’s leadership meeting in May 2012.

This marked the first time the annual leadership conference was held in the Middle East. During the visit, our CEO Frits van Paasschen also announced the senior leadership team’s month-long relocation to Dubai in March 2013, from their offices in Stamford, US, to understand and appreciate this region and to further strengthen our relationships with owners, as well as with the development and investment communities.

While we are focused on growing our nine distinctive brands across the region, it is also important for us as a company to ensure our existing hotels are operating under brand standards.

We will look at key renovations across the region and in some cases, the possibility of exiting certain properties.

Lastly, our most important asset as a company is brand loyalty, so we continue to focus on strengthening relationships with our guests by offering more personalised experiences.

A key driver for this is our loyalty programme, Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG), which continues to offer more choices, recognition and services by breaking away from ‘points and perks’, to introduce personal services that drive loyalty beyond reason for our guests.

Digital marketing and online direct reservations are expected to be key trends for 2013: what’s your strategy to grow these?
Technology is reinventing the travel business in terms of how people search, select and book hotels. Consumers can find the best value proposition with technology at their fingertips which has led to an increase in mobile bookings.

In fact, 25% of travel-related searches today are done via mobile. We have also noticed, of travellers who book via mobile devices, 50% of those bookings are for same-day or next-day arrivals, which is a big contrast from typical advance bookings via traditional channels.

We live in a data-driven world today and it is only natural that travellers expect a dialogue with their favourite brands. Travellers today know what they want and when they want it and expect personalised attention and experiences.

This is the reason we launched Ratings and Reviews, which gives our guests the opportunity to review their experiences directly on our websites.

Since we launched this, we’ve learned that guests who interact with Ratings and Reviews have a 50% higher conversion rate than those who don’t.

What guest/traveller trends do you predict for 2013?
We are on the cusp of a new ‘golden age of travel’ and the opportunity in the travel and tourism industry is bigger than it ever was.

The world has transformed more dramatically in the last 20 years, and it’s only accelerating due to forces such as a growing middle class, rapid advances in digital technology and higher expectations for personalisation from global brands.

These things are impacting the travel and hotel business – in a good way. Inbound travel from China and India will continue to grow exponentially over the years to come. This is great news for Starwood because when travellers from these markets visit, they will stay with the brands they know and trust.