Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide opened 74 new hotels in 2014, comprising approximately 15,000 rooms in 26 countries.
Starwood also signed 175 new hotel management and franchise agreements in 2014, a 15% increase over the prior year. This marked the most new deals in one year since 2007, as well as the fifth consecutive year of increased signings.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. president and CEO Frits van Paasschen said: “With more than 1200 hotels in 100 countries, we’re on the frontlines of global change and continue to see increasing demand for innovative, design-led brands, playing to Starwood’s strength.
"Our nine lifestyle brands continue to attract owners as does our loyalty program, Starwood Preferred Guest, which brings high-value guests to our hotels from around the world, driving more than half of our occupancy on any given night.”
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The luxury segment is a key priority for the group, with more than 12 new hotel openings under the St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, and W brand, and another 25 luxury hotels due to open over the next two years.
Upcoming luxury properties include: Regis hotels in Istanbul, Macao, Dubai and Mumbai, The Luxury Collection properties in Nanjing, China; San Antonio, Texas; and Broumana, Lebanon, and W openings in Amsterdam, Netherlands and Goa, India.
The group also opened 27 hotels across its upper upscale brands, which include Sheraton, Le Meridien and Westin, with more than 150 under development.
The Sheraton brand accounts for nearly 40% of Starwood hotels in the Asia Pacific and is leading Starwood’s growth in Africa, where the brand will open six hotels by 2018.
Westin opened its 200th hotel in 2014, and will debut in Qatar with the opening of the Westin Doha Hotel & Spa – the brand’s fourth in the Middle East.
The group’s mid-market segment saw the most openings, with 35 new properties now operational, and 100 new deals signed across the Four Points by Sheraton, Aloft, and Element brands.
The segment accounts for approximately 40% of Starwood’s global growth pipeline and will comprise nearly half of the company’s new hotel openings in 2015.
Four Points by Sheraton signed 50 new hotel deals in 2014, the most in company history, and will surpass 200 hotels in 2015, with more than 25 planned hotel openings this year.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide president of global development Simon Turner commented: “Looking ahead, emerging markets remain a focus for us, but recovering economic conditions and increased availability of financing have also led to strong growth in North America and Europe.”
“North America accounted for more than one third of our signings last year, and the availability of new construction lending resulted in a more than 50% increase in new-build hotel signings over the previous year.
“Globally, we renewed or extended 76 of our existing agreements with owners in 2014, underscoring the strength of our brands, loyalty program, operating teams, and systems. We remain focused on working with the right partners, on the right properties, in the right places, and our agile development approach allows us to adapt our growth strategies based on specific geographies and brand needs for both new development and conversion projects either managed or franchised.”
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