Starwood chiefs have reassured the market that the company will continue to expand in the Middle East, despite the global economic downturn.
Vice president of sales for Europe, Africa and the Middle East Kip Horton said Starwood was taking a long-term view of the situation and was confident the industry would “see many more up years than down years”.
“Investment is going to continue for Starwood, whether it’s in the GCC or anywhere in the world, but it’s maybe being looked at a little more carefully,” said Horton.
“There might be projects that were 400 rooms that will now be 300 rooms, because it makes long-term sense and investors see the market shrinking.”
However, he said some investors were taking advantage of the situation and capitalising on the availability of cheaper labour and materials.
“There are definitely some projects that will die,” he acknowledged.
“But other investors are saying ‘this project might take three years to complete, after which [hopefully] this whole financial storm will have blown over and I’m going to have the newest hotel in the neighbourhood’.”
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Horton said smart investors were remaining prudent and optimistic.
“This first quarter is about saying let’s wait and see — that’s on an individual basis, on a company basis and a developer basis,” said Horton.
Vice president, regional director Middle East Guido De Wilde said Starwood had recently introduced the W brand to the region and would soon launch the aloft brand in Abu Dhabi.
“The Middle East region has been outperforming all others and achieving the highest growth rate worldwide,” he said.
“In 2008 we signed more than 10 new deals and we have an aggressive pipeline moving forward.”
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