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STAMFORD, Conn. – April 12, 2012– Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide,
Inc. (NYSE:HOT) announced today several promotions and changes to its
leadership team. These changes follow the decision to retire by three
admired senior leaders - Matt Avril, President of the Hotel Group; Denise Coll,
President of Starwood North America; and Miguel Ko, Chairman and President of
Starwood Asia Pacific. The planned retirements will take place over the next
several months allowing for a smooth transition to their successors.
Reflecting Starwood’s long commitment to talent development, all of the new
leaders are being promoted from within the Company.
Mr. Avril began his career with Starwood in 1989 through Vistana, Inc., the
predecessor to Starwood Vacation Ownership (“SVO”). He became President
of the Hotel Group in 2008 with oversight of Starwood’s global hotel operations
and sales function. Under his watch, Starwood’s hotel business
experienced its highest ever market share gains, and record high associate
engagement. Mr. Avril also contributed to Starwood’s transformation to a truly
global enterprise, driving key initiatives and best practices across
geographies. These efforts included revenue management, sales effectiveness,
SPG marketing programs and enrollment initiatives, food and beverage, and lean
operations.
Ms. Coll joined ITT Sheraton (later acquired by Starwood) in 1976 and is widely
respected as one of the industry’s most seasoned and successful
operators. Since 2007, she has led Starwood’s largest region with over
500 hotels. She successfully steered the Company’s North American hotels
through the economic downturn while overseeing a 24% increase in the region’s
hotel footprint. Ms. Coll also presided over the launch of two new
brands, Aloft and Element, as well as record profitability across all brands
and highest ever guest satisfaction scores.
Mr. Ko began his career with ITT Sheraton in 1979. Under his leadership,
Starwood’s Asia Pacific business has witnessed unprecedented growth. Mr.
Ko has played a crucial role in establishing Starwood’s leadership position and
first-mover advantage throughout Asia. During the last decade under his
leadership, the Company’s footprint of operating and pipeline hotels in the
region has grown from 75 to over 360 hotels today. As a result, Starwood
is the largest five-star hotel company in Asia. Recognizing his important
role in Starwood’s growth in Asia Pacific and his deep relationships in the
region, Mr. Ko has agreed to serve as Non-Executive Chairman of Starwood Asia
Pacific for the next three years.
Frits van Paasschen, President and Chief Executive Officer of Starwood, said
“On behalf of all of Starwood, I want to thank Matt, Denise, and Miguel for
their unique contributions and hard work over their combined 80-plus years of
tenure. Were it not for these three leaders, Starwood would not find
itself in the strong position it is in today. Reflecting their deep
commitment to the company, Matt, Denise and Miguel have all agreed to stay on
through year-end to support this transition.”
Mr. van Paasschen continued, “After four years of stability among our executive
leadership team, these three planned retirements create new opportunities for
other capable leaders within our ranks. We are also using this
opportunity to refine our structure to match a changing marketplace. I am
confident that we will not miss a beat in our quest to grow our brands, support
our owners, drive shareholder value, and give guests a better way to experience
the world.”
Starwood will realign its structure by combining its North America and Latin
America operations together into the Americas. This move recognizes the
significant commercial overlap between the two regions and will better position
both to take advantage of accelerating travel trends within the Americas.
The combination of the two groups also acknowledges Latin America’s significant
growth opportunity by creating a better support system and infrastructure to
maximize this potential. In 2011, Latin America was Starwood’s fastest growing
region in terms of both net rooms and RevPAR growth. In addition, given that
the geographic footprint of SVO falls entirely within the region, Starwood has
made the strategic decision to incorporate SVO into the Americas as well.
In recognition of another vital part of the business, Starwood will also
elevate its leadership in China to reflect that country’s great importance for
Asia Pacific and the Company.
As part of the organizational changes, the Presidents of The Americas; Asia
Pacific; and Europe,Africa and Middle East; will now report directly to Frits
van Paasschen. Specific leadership appointments that are effective July
1, 2012 include the following:
- Sergio Rivera, currently President and CEO of Starwood Vacation Ownership,
and a longtime member of Starwood’s Senior Leadership Team, has been promoted
to Co-President of Starwood Americas. Mr. Rivera started his Starwood
career 23 years ago at SVO’s predecessor, Vistana Resorts as Corporate
Controller. During his tenure, he has held progressively senior
management roles, including President of Global Real Estate for Starwood.
In his current role overseeing SVO, Mr. Rivera has oversight of all aspects of
the business including operations, brands, development, finance, design,
customer and owner relationships across geographies throughout the United
States, the Caribbean and Mexico. In his new role, he will co-lead
Starwood’s operations in the Americas, with primary responsibility for North
America and SVO.
- Osvaldo Librizzi, currently President of Latin America and a 37-year
Starwood veteran, has been promoted to Co-President of the Americas, alongside
Mr. Rivera, with primary responsibility for Latin America. Mr. Librizzi
began his career at Starwood as Assistant Controller at the Sheraton Buenos
Aires, and currently oversees all hotel operations for Starwood’s 70 properties
in Mexico, Central and South America, with an additional 10 properties under
construction. During his 22 years as President of Latin America,Starwood has
grown to become the largest hotel operator in the region and in the last four
years alone has increased its footprint by 40%. Highly respected within
the industry, Mr.Librizzi is one of the longest-tenured hotel leaders in Latin
America.
- Stephen Ho, currently Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Development
for Starwood China, has been promoted to President of Asia Pacific. He
has been with Starwood for 31 years, having begun his career as a pastry
chef. He was part of the original team that opened The Great Wall
Sheraton Hotel Beijing, the first Western hotel in the People’s Republic of
China. He has held various increasingly senior positions throughout
Starwood Asia Pacific. In his current role, he has led the Greater China
development team in building the industry’s largest high-end hotel footprint
and pipeline in China. With his many key relationships, operating
experience, and exceptional track record, he is the ideal candidate to fill
this important role.
- Qian Jin, currently head of Starwood’s operations for China, has been
promoted to the title of President of Greater China, which reflects his breadth
of experience over his 26 years with Starwood. His promotion underscores
the continued growth of Starwood’s business in China. Early in his career
Mr. Qian was the first Chinese citizen to be identified for talent development
at Starwood. He began his career at Starwood in 1986 as Deputy General
Manager of the Hua Ting Sheraton, and has held various assignments in Fiji,
Malaysia and Singapore, before returning to Shanghai in 2001 to establish
Starwood’s regional office for China. He is now responsible for nearly
200 operating and pipeline hotels. He is credited with building
Starwood’s operating business in China, and is the natural choice for this
newly created position. He will join Starwood’s Senior Leadership Team
and report to Mr. Ho.
- Christie Hicks, Senior Vice President, Starwood Sales Organization, a
12-year Starwood veteran, will now report directly into Frits van
Paasschen. This recognizes her ability to lead Starwood’s
business-to-business sales, which drive approximately $5.3 Billion in revenue
annually. Ms. Hicks has led the sales organization through a period of
rapid growth, and is responsible for evolving Starwood’s sales team from a
largely North American-oriented operation to a global one. Ms. Hicks is a
member of Starwood’s Senior Leadership Team.
- John Peyton, currently Senior Vice President of Operations for Starwood
North America, has been promoted to the new role of Senior Vice President of
Global Initiatives. In this position, he will drive the implementation of key
strategic priorities across the globe, including procurement, revenue
management, and food and beverage. Mr. Peyton is ideally suited for this
position with his deep global, operational and brand experience during his 12
years at Starwood. He will join the Senior Leadership Team and jointly
report to Frits van Paasschen and Vasant Prabhu, Starwood’s Vice Chairman and
CFO.
- Robert Hermany, currently Senior Vice President of Operations, North
America, has been promoted to replace Mr. Peyton in an expanded role of Chief
of North American Operations & Global Initiatives. In this new role,
Mr. Hermany will manage North American operations, working in close
coordination with Mr. Peyton to implement key global initiatives across North
America. Mr. Hermany who has spent his entire career in hotel operations is a
15-year Starwood veteran and, in his current position, leads an operating team
overseeing hotels and owner relations throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic,
and Midwest regions of the United States. Mr. Hermany will report to Sergio
Rivera in his new role.
About Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and
leisure companies in the world with 1090 properties in 100 countries and
territories with 154,000 employees at its owned and managed properties.
Starwood Hotels is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels,
resorts and residences with the following internationally renowned brands: St.
Regis®, The Luxury Collection®, W®, Westin®, Le Méridien®, Sheraton®, Four
Points® by Sheraton, Aloft®, and Element SM. The company boasts one of the
industry’s leading loyalty programs, Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG), allowing
members to earn and redeem points for room stays, room upgrades and flights,
with no blackout dates. Starwood Hotels also owns Starwood Vacation Ownership,
Inc., one of the premier developers and operators of high quality vacation
interval ownership resorts. For more information, please visit
www.starwoodhotels.com.
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(Note: This press release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of federal securities regulations. Forward-looking statements are not
guarantees of future performance or events and involve risks and uncertainties
and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially
from those anticipated at the time the forward-looking statements are made.
These risks and uncertainties are presented in detail in our filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Although we believe the expectations
reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable
assumptions, we can give no assurance that our expectations will be attained or
that results and events will not materially differ. We undertake no obligation
to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result
of new information, future events or otherwise.)
Press Contact:
K.C. Kavanagh
Senior Vice President – Starwood Global Communications
T: 203.964.4170
kc.kavanagh@starwoodhotels.com
