The hotel group has revealed that it is on track to grow its portfolio in the Middle East to 100 hotels by 2020. This follows five new deal signings that will add over 1,200 rooms in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Starwood will also open five hotels in 2016 across the three countries. “The Middle East continues to be one of Starwood’s fastest growing markets and we are immensely committed to the trust that owners have in our brands,” explained Michael Wale, president of Starwood, EMEA.
“We continue to strengthen Starwood’s leadership position in the Middle East through an aggressive growth strategy that will increase our footprint by 75% in the next five years,” said Simon Turner, president of Global Development for Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
2016 Opening Highlights:
Starwood will expand its regional footprint to nearly 60 properties and over 17,000 rooms this year with five openings in the Middle East. Following the recent debut of The Westin Doha Hotel and Spa, the brand’s entry to Qatar, Starwood will open:
W Dubai Al Habtoor City and The Westin Dubai Al Habtoor City which, together with The St. Regis Dubai which opened last November, form Starwood’s largest hospitality project in the Middle East. This double debut will mark the entry of the W Hotels brand into the UAE and the launch of the largest Westin hotel in the Middle East with over 1,000 rooms. Both hotels are scheduled to open in Q2.
Launch of the Aloft brand in Saudi Arabia with the openings of Aloft Riyadh and Aloft Dhahran in Q3. Together the hotels will add over 500 rooms in The Kingdom.
Re-opening of the Sheraton Oman in Q3 following extensive renovations of its rooms and public spaces, refreshed food and beverage outlets and extension of one of the largest ballrooms in the country.
Starwood will grow its footprint by over 75 percent in the next five years with a robust pipeline of more than 40 hotels and over 12,000 rooms across its luxury, upper-upscale and mid-market brands.
Starwood’s mid-market brands – Aloft, Four Points by Sheraton and Element – continue to fuel growth for the company in the Middle East, illustrating the strong demand for reliable and affordable hospitality in the region. Together, the three brands represent more than 50 percent of the company’s growth pipeline in the region.
Starwood also continues to see strong growth opportunities for its luxury brands and will double its luxury hotels portfolio in the Middle East with ten new openings across the St. Regis, Luxury Collection and W Hotels brands. The company’s upper-upscale brands – Sheraton, Le Méridien and Westin – which currently make up 70 percent of its current portfolio in the Middle East – will account for nearly 50 percent of the future footprint with seven new projects scheduled to open by 2020.
