Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide’s Sheraton brand is planning 20 new hotel openings during 2015, including its entrance into the Sri Lanka and Romania markets.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide's Sheraton brand is planning 20 new hotel openings during 2015, including its entrance into the Sri Lanka and Romania markets.

Strong demand across Asia Pacific is driving future pipeline growth, putting Sheraton on track to cross the 500th hotel milestone in 2016.

Sheraton expects to open more than 50 hotels and enter another 14 countries by the end of 2018.

Sheraton will open more than one-third of its new hotels in Asia Pacific in 2015, driven by accelerating demand across China. This year, Sheraton will open its third hotel in Beijing, its fifth in Shanghai and debut in five new markets including Bengbu, Chuzhou, Zhanjiang and Harbin. Meanwhile, the brand's development pipeline in China includes another 33 hotels slated to open over the next four years.

Sheraton will expand its footprint in India with the debut of Sheraton Hyderabad Hotel in 2016, and another two hotels in development. The brand will also enter Sri Lanka with the opening of Sheraton Colombo Hotel in 2016 and will open its second hotel in Samoa this year.

In 2015, Sheraton will open two new hotels in North America—Mesa, Ariz., and McKinney, Texas—and break ground in Georgetown, Texas. Several conversions are expected to be signed and opened in North America within the year.

In 2016, the brand will return to Bolivia with the opening of Sheraton Santa Cruz. Last year, Sheraton opened its sixth hotel in Brazil—Sheraton Reserva do Paiva Hotel and Convention Center and returned to the Dominican Republic with the opening of Sheraton Santo Domingo Hotel.