Westin on track to hit 200th hotel milestone

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc reports its Westin brand is on track to open its 200th hotel in the next 12 months, propelled by strong growth across Asia Pacific. Westin will open 11 new hotels this year, all but three outside the United States. More than half will open in China, the brand’s strongest growth market. Westin will also add new hotels in Indonesia, Panama City, New York and Snowmass, Colorado. Westin is picking up the pace of development in Latin America where the brand has doubled its footprint over the last 18 months. Following this year’s opening of The Westin Panama, the brand will boast 11 hotels in Latin America, spanning five countries — Mexico, Panama, Peru, Costa Rica and Guatemala. Key openings in 2011 included the first Westin in South America in Lima, Peru, the sixth Starwood hotel in Panama, which is emerging as a key financial hub in Latin America, and Starwood’s first all-inclusive resort – The Westin Playa Conchal Resort & Spa in Costa Rica. Westin will add six new hotels in China in 2012, resulting in a portfolio of 19 properties in this key market by year’s end, extending the brand’s reach in second and third tier cities. The new Westin hotels will open in fast-growing cities across China including Ningbo, Xiamen, Changbaishan, Taiyuan, Qingdao and Xian. These openings will be followed by four more Westin hotels in China by the end of 2013. Indonesia will welcome its second Westin in 2012 – The Westin Ubud Resort & Spa, a highly anticipated addition to the brand’s growing resorts portfolio. Westin has also signed deals to debut in both Vietnam and Singapore by 2015. (http://www.starwoodhotels.com)