Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (HOT) recently announced that two new properties are slated to open in Panama in the next two years. This will mark the inauguration of the Westin brand of Starwood in that country.
The Westin Playa Bonita Panama will open in 2011, followed by the opening of The Westin Panama Hotel in 2012 in Panama City’s Costa del Este business district.
Starwood will operate the two new Westin hotels in Panama as franchised properties with Bern Hotels & Resorts Panama. Earlier, Starwood had partnered with Bern Hotels & Resorts Panama to open Le Méridien Panama in September 2009.
Starwood is poised to benefit from the increase in demand for hotels. It has over half of its hotel properties outside the U.S., an international exposure that not many of its peers can boast. Additionally, over 80% of the company’s 85,000 room pipeline will be built in international markets.
With the openings of upcoming hotels in Panama, the presence of the Westin brand will spread to four Latin American countries. In the recent past, the company has embarked on a rapid expansion program, especially in emerging countries including India and China.
Starwood continues to see more construction opportunities in various emerging and rapidly developing economies. The potential was reflected in the strong growth recorded in second quarter where company-operated RevPAR growth was nearly 30% in Asia-Pacific and Latin America, while North America RevPAR was up 12%.
In the second quarter, RevPAR in Argentina grew 44% year over year while in Brazil it went up 32%. In Mexico, business travel is recovering but results have been hit by drug-related crime concerns. In the third quarter, Starwood will lap the significant impact from H1N1 seen in South America last year. Management expects to see even more growth in this dynamic market over the next decade across all global brands of Starwood.
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