This year's ranking of the world's largest hotel companies marks another chapter in the story of "the big getting bigger" as strong balance sheets propel the GIANTS into new locales. Therefore, while 2006 marked yet another year of steady growth and impressive operating results, the real theme of the last 12 months has to be "setting the stage." Regional players and brands are breaking ground to plant flags in new territories—such as the reunited Hilton Hotels Corp.'s ambitious plans to roll out many of its domestic U.S. brands abroad, namely into China, India and Russia, and the newly formed Fairmont Raffles Hotels International's opportunity to expand its brands' reach to opposite sides of the globe.
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