Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide I.N.C. is a reputable hotel in the world, having made it to the top hotel companies in the world. The hotel company was started by a real estate company known as Sheraton company in the year 1991, after the company had made a move to take advantage of the tax break that had been made on the hotel industry (Ashton 1). The company started purchasing hotels in the year 1993 in its bed to expand in North America and the larger world.  (Ashton 2).In 1994, the company started purchasing the Hotel’s Investors Trust after it had successfully started a Real Estate Investment Trust, REIT. The year 1998, saw a breakthrough in the company after it bought the ITT Corporation a company which was estimated to be 7 times the size of Starwood. At that time, ITT was the biggest lodging and gaming company in the world. This enabled the company to expand fast and become a competitor in the global tourism and Hotel industry (Ashton 3). The company operates hotels throughout the world with brands such as Sheraton, St. Regis,Westin, Four Points, W, The Luxury Collection, Le Meridien, Element and Aloft brand among others (The New York Job source 23). As at today, the company operates 750 hotels in the world. The majority of the hotels are in America, about 500 to be precise. The other hotels are spread throughout the world in Asia Africa and Europe.

East Asia is a region which is experiencing a high economic growth rate in the recent times. The countries found in the region include: China, Taiwan, Korea (south & North), Japan, Eastern Russia and Mongolia. The economic prowess of the region has sparked a lot of investment in the tourism and hotel industry. This has made the Starwood hotel company to consider the region as a potential market and as at now, the company has 8 out of its 9 hotel brands operating in the Region.