The value of those hotels would be in the tens of billions of dollars, Hilton Chief Executive and President Chris Nassetta told the Journal.
Nassetta's comments come after he said earlier this month that Eastern markets offer good opportunities as weaker consumer spending, troubled airlines and rising petrol prices threaten to eat into the domestic business of hotels.
The company is focusing initially on India, where it has a joint venture with DLF Ltd to open 75 hotels in the next five years, says Nassetta. It wants to add 18 hotels in the next four years to the five it already runs in China, the Journal reported.
The competing rival Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc operates 136 hotels in the Asia-Pacific region, and has 95 more in the pipeline with 90 percent under construction.
Marriott International Inc rates about 85 hotels in the region, including Hawaii, and plans to add as many as 80 properties in the next three to five years, the Journal reported.
It said French hotel company Accor SA 180 hotels in Asia, 50 of them in China. |