Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide celebrated the 30th anniversary of the entry of the Sheraton brand into Mainland China during the Grand Opening of Sheraton Xishuangbanna in Yunnan province. As the company’s largest and most global brand with a current portfolio of more than 430 hotels in nearly 70 countries, Sheraton is on track to meet its 500th global hotel milestone in 2016. The success of the Sheraton brand in China, with the opening of 67 hotels and resorts over the past 30 years, and more than 40 in the pipeline, is a key contributor towards this milestone.
Sheraton was the first international five-star hotel chain to enter China when The Great Wall Sheraton Hotel Beijing was established in 1985. Since then, more than 40 percent of Sheraton hotels and resorts have been the first international upper upscale hotels in burgeoning urban locations across China such as Guilin, Xian, Haikou, Ningbo, Xiamen and Shantou.
“The Sheraton brand has become an icon in China, and by leveraging on our first-mover advantage, we have now grown to become the most dominant international upper-upscale hotel brand in China,” said Qian Jin, President of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Greater China. “As we celebrate this momentous occasion, we would also like to take the opportunity to thank all our loyal associates, guests and partner hotel owners who have helped to grow our brand over the past 30 years. We will continue to work closely to develop even more exciting new products to meet the demands of one of the world’s fastest growing markets”.
Celebrating 30th year with more milestones
To kick-start its 30th year milestone festivities in China, Sheraton Hotels and Resorts celebrated with the Grand Opening of Sheraton Xishuangbanna Hotel in the Gasa Tourism Zone in Yunnan Province. The hotel not only marked the entry of Starwood into Yunnan, but also the first internationally-branded hotel in the city with hot springs on its premises. This year, Sheraton will also open its third hotel in Beijing, its fifth in Shanghai, and debut in five new markets including Bengbu, Chuzhou, Zhanjiang, Zhuhai and Harbin.
In the coming months, Sheraton Hotel & Resorts will be launching a series of marketing activities including room, food and beverage promotions in celebration of the brand’s 30th year milestone in China.
Meeting the demands of the domestic travel market segment
To meet the demands of an increasingly affluent domestic market with the means and desire to travel, Starwood has been working with partners to develop hotels and resorts with the domestic business and leisure traveler in mind, from world-class meeting venues such as Sheraton Shenzhen Futian Hotel and Sheraton Shanghai Pudong, to city hotels in secondary and tertiary cities such as Sheraton Jinan Hotel and Sheraton Changsha Hotel, as well as new resort products in destination cities.
At present, Sheraton operates the most number of upper-upscale resorts in China, with 16 resorts in its current portfolio. Notable Sheraton resort openings include modern landmarks such as Sheraton Huzhou Hot Spring Resort, urban resorts such as Sheraton Dameisha Resort, Shenzhen and Sheraton Guangzhou Huadu Resort, ski resorts like Sheraton Changbaishan Resort, as well as the brand’s first resort in the region – Sheraton Sanya Resort.
Five more resorts, including Sheraton Diqing Resort, Sheraton Sanya Tufu Bay Resort, Sheraton Ningbo Xiangshan Resort, Sheraton Beijing West Mountain resort, Sheraton Suzhou Taihu Resort are also due to open within the next three years.
Developing talent in China’s hospitality industry
As the most global Starwood brand in China, Sheraton has also been instrumental in growing talent in the Chinese hospitality industry. As a Sheraton alumni himself, Qian Jin started his career with Starwood in 1986 when he was appointed Deputy General Manager of the former Hua Ting Sheraton, and also holds the honor of being the first ever Chinese individual to be appointed as the General Manager of an international hotel brand in China. Another notable Sheraton alumnus is President of Starwood Asia Pacific Stephen Ho, who was part of the original opening team at The Great Wall Sheraton Hotel Beijing.
At present, more than half of the 45,000 employees currently employed by Starwood in China have worked in a Sheraton hotel, and 64% of General Managers in Starwood hotels also had the opportunity to work at a Sheraton in China.
