Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc is seeking to expand its footprint to 100 hotels by the end of 2015. While six of Starwood’s nine global brands — Westin, Le Meridien, Sheraton, Aloft, Four Points by Sheraton and The Luxury Collection in partnership with ITC Hotels — are already in India, two more — St Regis and W — will make an entry into the country next year.

Element, the company’s extended-stay sustainable brand will be introduced to India in 2016-17.

“We already have 40 hotels across the country, which are managed and franchised by Starwood and have signed deals for 32 new hotels which are currently under development. We will have 100 hotels and eight of the nine Starwood global brands in India by December 2015,” Dilip Puri, Managing Director – India & Regional Vice-President – South Asia, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, told Business Line .

Stating that the two big areas of growth for India would be in the mid-scale and upscale hotel space, Puri pointed out that, with greater airline connectivity to Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets especially after the entry of new low-cost airlines, room sales are set to increase for the company in markets like Vishakapatnam, Coimbatore, Kochi, Dehra Dun, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh over the next few years.

Growth areas Hit by an enormous supply of hotel rooms in the country coupled with the global slowdown in travel over the past 8-12 months, the Indian hotel industry is limping back to stability.

“We are now seeing room supply tapering off and this will bring in more stability to the hotel industry. Additionally, the announcements made by the new Government has improved business sentiment, which in turn will give the travel industry a boost, benefiting the hotel industry,” observed Puri.

Comparing the India market with China, Puri pointed out that Starwood has 140 hotels in China with 130 more in the pipeline, whereas India has 40 Starwood hotels, with 32 new hotels under development.

“While it takes 18-24 months to start a new hotel in China; it takes three and a half years in India. China has a conducive regulatory environment and has built the infrastructure for travel not just in metros but also in Tier 2, 3, 4 and 5 towns. In India, we still need to beef up travel infrastructure and have a more conducive regulatory environment. Expensive bank debt, the ability to raise capital and long decision-making cycles of hotel owners are some of the other factors that slows down our expansion plans in India” said Puri.

New strategy Starwood has identified a new growth opportunity in converting existing hotels which have closed down around the country into Starwood brands along with the infrastructure partners. “We have converted four hotels, one each in Dehradun, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Bangalore into Four Points by Sheraton,” said Puri. The latest one launched in Bangalore last week is owned by Bimal Desai, Executive Director (Hospitality), Desai Brothers Ltd and managed by Starwood.

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