Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide today said it is aiming to grow its business in India by 60 per cent over the next three-years.
"India is a key focus of our expansion efforts, in large part, because it is a market that today is relatively under- hoteled. We will grow 60 per cent by 2013 from our existing portfolio of 26 hotels in India," Starwood's President and CEO Frits van Paasschen said in a statement here.
"As a point of perspective, consider that India with a population of one billion people has just 1,00,000 hotel rooms, while New York City alone has roughly 80,000 hotel rooms," van Paasschen said.
Starwood has been present in India since 1973, when its Sheraton brand debuted in Mumbai.
Since then the company has since grown its portfolio to 26 hotels under its Westin, Sheraton, Four Points by Sheraton, Luxury Collection and Le Méridien brands, the statement said.
Looking ahead, Starwood and its partners have another 15 hotels under development in India, including six Aloft hotels, three of which are slated to open this year, it said.
Its new hotel openings from 2007 until the end of 2010 will create more than 4,000 new jobs, it said.
