Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide this week launched a program of initiatives designed to serve the unique preferences of Chinese travellers.

 

Under the program Starwood Personalized Travel, Starwood offers various touches designed to appeal to Chinese travellers including in-room tea kettles, slippers, translated welcome materials and on-site translation services. Restaurant menus will also be made available in Chinese and will feature familiar favourites like congee.

 

The launch of the new program coincides with the end of the month-long relocation of the company's entire senior leadership team to China.

 

It also comes as Hilton announces it is launching its own tailored program for Chinese travellers.

 

China is Starwood’s second largest hotel market after the United States. The group has 75 hotels in China and nearly 100 in the pipeline. It plans to open one hotel in the country every two weeks throughout 2011.

 

"As Chinese travelers begin to travel beyond their borders en masse, they, like their Western counterparts before them, will gravitate to the hotel brands they know from home, and with Starwood's leading footprint in China, this gives us a great advantage," said Frits van Paasschen, president & CEO, Starwood Hotels & Resorts. "Just as our hotels in China
have historically catered to American and European travelers with familiar amenities from home, now our hotels globally will provide the same services to Chinese travelers."

 

Starwood will debut the service in 19 hotels globally including Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers; W New York - Times Square; Le Meridien Piccadilly, London; Sheraton Maria Isabel Hotel & Towers, Mexico City; Westin Paris - Vendome; Westin Tokyo, W Seoul Walkerhill; Sheraton Waikiki, Westin St. Francis, San Francisco and Sheraton Buenos Aires Hotel & Convention Center.

 

In a similar move, Marriott International in April announced plans to launch a customized version of its Fairfield Inn & Suites brand for Indian business travellers.

 

 

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