Snippets

Starwood to boost Asia Pacific hotel portfolio by 70 per cent in 2008

Frits van Paasschen, CEO of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, accompanied by the company's senior leadership team recently travelled to Asia to review development in the region and meet with key stakeholders. Starwood currently operates more than 140 hotels in Asia Pacific, with more than 80 hotels and resorts under development. Of the hotels under development in Asia Pacific, more than half are in China, where Starwood expects to double its portfolio by 2011. Building on its current portfolio of 20 properties in India, Starwood has 10 more under development in technology hubs such as Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai and Bangalore. In the past few months, Westin signed deals for five new properties, and aloft executed deals for three new properties. Elsewhere in Asia Pacific, Starwood's brands are growing their footprint in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Macau, Japan and New Zealand.

Sri Lankan Aitken Spence strengthens India focus

Sri Lankan hospitality major Aitken Spence Hotels has entered into a 50 per cent JV partnership with Floatels India Limited in Cochin at a total investment of US$ 8 million. It aims to have around 1,400 rooms in its India portfolio by 2010, overtaking domestic operations if no new hotels are build in Sri Lanka. It is looking to invest in other countries also including Maldives and Oman markets in addition to European markets to attract more tourists to Sri Lanka. Aitken Spence is the leading resort operator in Sri Lanka with nine properties.

Parsvnath to pump in Rs 2500 crore in 40 hotels

Having outlined an investment of approximately Rs 2500, realty major Parsvnath Developers is looking to develop 40 more hotels. It is currently in talks with leading domestic and international hotel chains for tie-ups and is considering SPVs and management contracts. They plan to develop 100 properties across India, of which plans for 60 properties have already been announced. The company had recently announced tie-ups with leading hotel chains in India. Through its subsidiary Parsvnath Hotels (PHL) has inked a JV with Bangalore based Royal Orchid Hotels (ROHL) to develop 10 hotel projects in the next five years across the country India. PHL will hold the majority stake of 70 per cent in the venture, and additionally, ROHL will manage the hotels apart from being a stakeholder. PHL has also signed an MoU with ITC's Fortune Park Hotels (FPHL) to manage 50 hotels across star and budget categories across India.

KFC targets a century by 2010

KFC, a US$ 12 billion brand owned by global restaurant company Yum! Brands, which has Pizza Hut and Taco Bell in its portfolio has set a target of 100 QSR in India by 2010 end. Currently it has 34 outlets present in nine cities across the country. By 2008, the company plans to hit 50 restaurants through the franchise route and will invest nearly Rs 300 crore to meet this target. It recently set-up a restaurant in Kolkata staffed entirely by hearing-impaired employees. The company is targeting tier-II and Tier-III cities and are focused on setting up infrastructure in place by strengthening back end operations, including the supply chain and vendors. However, the company believes 20 per cent of the new restaurants will be company owned, and is looking at malls and high-street locations. Also on the anvil is a menu expansion, tweaked to the Indian palate and vegetarian offerings, over the next three years