What is Starwood's India inventory strength as of today?
Today India is Starwood's 4th largest market and will soon be the 3rd. We have a strong and fast growing footprint and a robust pipeline. We currently operate 38 hotels under 6 brands with 35 hotels under development.
We aim to have 100 hotels under operation, through development and management contracts signed by end of 2015, with eight out of nine Starwood brands flying their flag in India.
What is the expansion plan for India?
We opened 4 hotels in 2013 and will open another 6-8 this year. Starwood continues to grow Westin in the gateway cities and key markets like Noida. It is now looking at strengthening its resort portfolio with a Westin in Khandala and in Bekal. The Le Meridien Mahabaleshwar will open in 2014.
Le Meridien Jaipur, Kochi and Bangalore are at various stages of renovation. We also have a Le Meridien Hotel under development in Noida. We are growing Sheraton further into NCR and gateway markets with Sheraton hotels under development in Chandigarh, Greater Noida and Whitefield Bangalore. We have 5 Aloft Hotels currently operating in India and have 3 more under development - Aloft Bangalore Cessna Business Park will open this year and Aloft New Delhi Aerocity and Aloft Goa next year.
We are seeing the Four Points by Sheraton brand emerge as a developer's darling with hotels under development in Faridabad, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Agra, Vadodara, Tirupati, Dahej, and Bangalore. Four Points by Sheraton Whitefield and Four points by Sheraton Dehradun will open this year. We are also looking at bringing our luxury brands St Regis and W Hotels to India soon.
Is the company making investments for expansion?
Our corporate strategy is to own brands and manage hotels either through a franchise or a management model and not be real estate investors. So the investments we are making are not in real estate but in building our brands and loyalty, in people and training, in technology, in resources and in infrastructure that supports our growth, our business model and our distribution.
We aim to have 100 hotels under operation, through development and management contracts signed by end of 2015, with eight out of nine Starwood brands flying their flag in India.
What is the expansion plan for India?
We opened 4 hotels in 2013 and will open another 6-8 this year. Starwood continues to grow Westin in the gateway cities and key markets like Noida. It is now looking at strengthening its resort portfolio with a Westin in Khandala and in Bekal. The Le Meridien Mahabaleshwar will open in 2014.
Le Meridien Jaipur, Kochi and Bangalore are at various stages of renovation. We also have a Le Meridien Hotel under development in Noida. We are growing Sheraton further into NCR and gateway markets with Sheraton hotels under development in Chandigarh, Greater Noida and Whitefield Bangalore. We have 5 Aloft Hotels currently operating in India and have 3 more under development - Aloft Bangalore Cessna Business Park will open this year and Aloft New Delhi Aerocity and Aloft Goa next year.
We are seeing the Four Points by Sheraton brand emerge as a developer's darling with hotels under development in Faridabad, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Agra, Vadodara, Tirupati, Dahej, and Bangalore. Four Points by Sheraton Whitefield and Four points by Sheraton Dehradun will open this year. We are also looking at bringing our luxury brands St Regis and W Hotels to India soon.
Is the company making investments for expansion?
Our corporate strategy is to own brands and manage hotels either through a franchise or a management model and not be real estate investors. So the investments we are making are not in real estate but in building our brands and loyalty, in people and training, in technology, in resources and in infrastructure that supports our growth, our business model and our distribution.
What are your plans for the resort category?
Starwood seeks to expand its resort portfolio with the opening of Le Meridien Mahabaleshwar Resort & Spa later this year and will double its resort room count in India by the end of 2015. Starwood signed The Westin Bekal Resort & Spa in the state of Kerala and already has The Westin Khandala Resort & Spa under development.The W Retreat & Spa Goa will open in 2015 and we also have a Sheraton Resort under development in Jalandhar in Punjab.
Which brand in India is the fastest growing?
We are seeing the Four Points by Sheraton brand emerge as a developer's darling with 6 operating hotels and 13 under development, making it our strongest pipeline. We opened Four Points by Sheraton Ahmedabad and New Delhi last year and have hotels under development in Whitefield and Dehradun which we will open this year. We believe that in the Upscale brands are fastest growth will come from the Four Points by Sheraton brand and Aloft brands and in the Upper Upscale brands it will be Sheraton and Westin that will drive our growth
Retention of talent is becoming an issue. What is Starwood doing for this?
The battle for market share in the future will be fought over talent. Given the planned growth that we have, over the next 2 years we expect to add over 2000 jobs to fuel this pipeline. We recently celebrated the Asia Pacific Starwood Careers Day, an Asia Pacific-wide effort aimed at attracting individuals to explore a range of employment opportunities at Starwood Hotels. It encapsulates Starwood's talent strategy that goes beyond talent attraction, to talent retention and development, building meaningful long-term careers for talent who join the organization.
What is the global hotel pipeline and what percentage of it is coming to India?
We signed deals in Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka and this year we already have deals signed in Bhutan. South Asia region as a whole and India in particular continue to be an emerging market for us.
How are you dealing with the slowdown?
We are cautiously confident about our growth in India in the near term and remain as bullish as ever in the long term. India today is still an 'under-hoteled' market, and the demand for high-caliber lodging is expected to far exceed current supply for at least the next three to four years.
As domestic travel increases and Indian travelers continue to demand more sophistication in terms of both quality and experience, we have significant opportunity to grow our brands across the spectrum in gateway cities, tertiary markets as well as in resort destinations.
Are your projects heading as per schedule or have fallen back due to the slowdown?
Last year our momentum continued despite an uncertain global economy. In a world where sentiment can change quickly, we remain encouraged that positive long-term trends have not changed. One of the biggest challenges we face in India is the slow pace of development due to regulatory procedures and infrastructure.
We also believe that there exists a large number of smaller hotel chains and standalone hotels that offer quality lodging and that could easily fit into one of our upscale brands.
Starwood seeks to expand its resort portfolio with the opening of Le Meridien Mahabaleshwar Resort & Spa later this year and will double its resort room count in India by the end of 2015. Starwood signed The Westin Bekal Resort & Spa in the state of Kerala and already has The Westin Khandala Resort & Spa under development.The W Retreat & Spa Goa will open in 2015 and we also have a Sheraton Resort under development in Jalandhar in Punjab.
Which brand in India is the fastest growing?
We are seeing the Four Points by Sheraton brand emerge as a developer's darling with 6 operating hotels and 13 under development, making it our strongest pipeline. We opened Four Points by Sheraton Ahmedabad and New Delhi last year and have hotels under development in Whitefield and Dehradun which we will open this year. We believe that in the Upscale brands are fastest growth will come from the Four Points by Sheraton brand and Aloft brands and in the Upper Upscale brands it will be Sheraton and Westin that will drive our growth
Retention of talent is becoming an issue. What is Starwood doing for this?
The battle for market share in the future will be fought over talent. Given the planned growth that we have, over the next 2 years we expect to add over 2000 jobs to fuel this pipeline. We recently celebrated the Asia Pacific Starwood Careers Day, an Asia Pacific-wide effort aimed at attracting individuals to explore a range of employment opportunities at Starwood Hotels. It encapsulates Starwood's talent strategy that goes beyond talent attraction, to talent retention and development, building meaningful long-term careers for talent who join the organization.
What is the global hotel pipeline and what percentage of it is coming to India?
We signed deals in Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka and this year we already have deals signed in Bhutan. South Asia region as a whole and India in particular continue to be an emerging market for us.
How are you dealing with the slowdown?
We are cautiously confident about our growth in India in the near term and remain as bullish as ever in the long term. India today is still an 'under-hoteled' market, and the demand for high-caliber lodging is expected to far exceed current supply for at least the next three to four years.
As domestic travel increases and Indian travelers continue to demand more sophistication in terms of both quality and experience, we have significant opportunity to grow our brands across the spectrum in gateway cities, tertiary markets as well as in resort destinations.
Are your projects heading as per schedule or have fallen back due to the slowdown?
Last year our momentum continued despite an uncertain global economy. In a world where sentiment can change quickly, we remain encouraged that positive long-term trends have not changed. One of the biggest challenges we face in India is the slow pace of development due to regulatory procedures and infrastructure.
We also believe that there exists a large number of smaller hotel chains and standalone hotels that offer quality lodging and that could easily fit into one of our upscale brands.