STAMFORD, CT—From the 2016 American Lodging Investment Summit in Los Angeles, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. revealed strong continued growth in North America, following its fifth consecutive year of increased signings with 92 new hotel deals in 2015, an increase of 44% over the previous year. During 2015, the company also opened 43 new hotels, nearly double the 2014 number.
“Our strong growth in North America played a significant part in Starwood’s record-breaking growth last year, fueled by notable increases across our brand portfolio, particularly our select service and our luxury brands,” said Simon Turner, president of global development, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. “North America remains an extremely important market for the company, with 55% of our existing portfolio and one-third of our global pipeline, and we see continued growth momentum across all of our brands in 2016.”
“We are thrilled with the balanced growth we achieved in 2015, which grew our pipeline in North America by over 30%,” said Allison Reid, SVP, North America Development for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. “The number of conversions we signed last year was up significantly and new build activity also increased. Owners and developers are showing continued strong interest in Starwood’s brands, powerful network, global booking platforms and loyal customer base.”
The tech-forward Aloft brand, representing Starwood’s largest pipeline in North America, led the company’s growth this year, according to the company. There were 10 openings in 2015 and nine more are slated for 2016 in North America. Element Hotels opened five hotels in 2015 and will open more than 20 hotels across the U.S. and Canada by year-end 2018. Four Points also continues to expand with plans to open this year in key markets such as New York, San Diego and Dallas-Fort Worth, in addition to markets throughout Canada such as Sherwood, Alberta and Barrie, Ontario.