Like a well-practiced archer, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide has strung their bow and shot a perfect bull’s-eye in pinpointing the world’s next great hospitality market. China, one of the world’s most rapidly expanding economies, is where Starwood has decided to take their latest expansion initiative with a goal of 100 hotels by 2012.

This week, Starwood made the announcement that 7 new hotels would be opening in the country during the summer, which would bring the current number of Starwood properties in China to 42. Starwood even recently moved their global Headquarters to Shanghai, China.

The reason for all the fuss over the country? , First , there is the fact that China has the second largest economy in the world, yet is not nearly as saturated by the high-end hospitality industry as the United States and are actually expanding faster than the American economy. Then there is the fact that China in itself is producing Starwood customers at a breakneck pace. Last year there was a 71% increase in Starwood preferred customers in China.

Of their multiple international brands, Sheraton will be the most commonly developed. Of the planned 100 hotels with about half of the new construction will be Sheraton. For more information check out this full article about Starwood’s Asian expansion.

        Let’s see, I’ve finished unpacking, checked my email, and returned those calls. Looks like I have just enough time to take a relaxing bath and go to bed before a busy day of meetings tomorrow… Or not… My room doesn’t have a bathtub! NOOO, *sob, * it looks like my evening plans are down the drain… Pun intended.

Okay, so maybe not all business travelers will be heartbroken by the fact that hotels are cutting down on the inclusion of bathtubs in their rooms, but it definitely represents a significant response to a somewhat depressing trend in business travel.

 USA Today recently reported that many hotel chains are greatly reducing the amount of bathtubs they put in their properties and replacing them with larger, walk-in showers.  Hotels cite the reason for this being that most business travelers simply don’t have time to take baths.

It may sound surprising, but USA Today’s article points out some compelling statistics that support this trend. 95% of Holiday Inn’s properties built in 2001contained bathtubs, but that number is down to only 55% this year.  Marriott is planning to have 75% of their rooms be shower-only, whereas Hotel Indigo (a new, higher-end chain) has never had bathtubs.

It’s interesting to see that the world of business travel has changed so rapidly in the last 10 years that hotels are responding by getting rid of a staple of modern grooming so ubiquitous that it has a room named after it!

As an industry, it’s difficult to predict where the next adaptation to the modern business traveler will occur.  Should hotels think about getting rid of TVs in single-bed suites because business travelers don’t have time to watch? Only time will tell how the industry will adapt to the ever-increasingly time sensitive world of business travel.

So, the next time you’re on the road, take some time to soak in the tub and enjoy it. Hotel room bathtubs are likely to soon be a thing of the past. For more information Check out USA Today’s article about bathtubs in hotels going the way of the dinosaurs.