Comunicato stampa

2012-04-04

STARWOOD HOTELS & RESORT’S NINE HOTEL BRANDS COME TO LIFE THROUGH AN EXCLUSIVE SERIES OF WORLDWIDE MUSIC EVENTS CURATED THROUGH LIVE NATION

Stamford, CT. – April 4, 2012 – Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG®), the award-winning loyalty program from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT), announces programming for 2012 through its partnership with Live Nation, the world's leading live entertainment and e-commerce company. In partnership with Live Nation, SPG is launching a first-of-its-kind global program On Tour with SPG: Hear the Music, See the World which will allow SPG members to experience exclusive music events in incredible destinations such as Dubai, Macau, Santiago, Paris, Miami and more.  Each event will be conducted at a hotel within Starwood’s portfolio of nine iconic brands and will come to life as a musical representation of each brand.  Nine artists will be carefully selected to represent the essence of each brand. Custom artist events will be designed in collaboration with the artist and Starwood’s renowned brand design team to curate each event incorporating unique style, décor and rituals of each brand, such as champagne sabering at a St. Regis® property or special SuperFoodsRx® cocktails at a Westin property. SPG members can secure access to each music event by redeeming Starpoints® at SPG.com/Moments.

On Tour with SPG:  Hear the Music, See the World sweepstakes
Members of the SPG program, which is free to join, can register for their chance to attend their choice of one of the nine Hear the Music, See the World events – including airfare and hotel stay – by visiting SPG.com/HearTheMusic. In addition to registering, members can earn entries throughout the promotional period April 3 – April 30, 2102 by “checking in” on Foursquare or for each night stayed at Starwood’s 1,000+ hotels and resorts globally.

Also, members who reside in the US and “check-in” on Foursquare at a Starwood hotel or resort during the promotion will unlock a $15 Live Nation concert cash code to be used towards amphitheater show tickets or for artist merchandise.

“We’re always looking to reward our members with experiences that play to their unique passions and that they cannot access anywhere else” said Mark Vondrasek, Senior Vice-President, Distribution, Loyalty and Partnership marketing for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.  “Together with Live Nation we’ve curated nine distinctive experiences that allow our members to select the hotel brand, destination, and genre of music that resonate most with them and their entourage.”

The On Tour with SPG: Hear the Music, See the World global tour includes the following:

• St. Regis:Poolside acoustic set by acclaimed jazz singer/songwriter Jamie Cullum, St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort, Miami Beach, FL (May)
  
  
• Aloft: Premium concert tickets and after party attended by Daughtry at the Aloft Dallas Downtown, TX (June)
  
  
• Westin: Group performance by the recently reunited Ben Folds Five at the flagship Westin New York at Grand Central, New York, New York (October)
  
  
• W:  Sunset deejay set by Rob Garza of Thievery Corporation on the rooftop at W Santiago, Chile (November)
  
  
•  Sheraton, Element, Le Meridien, Four Points by Sheraton, and Luxury Collection artist events to be announced soon
  

“We’re thrilled to help Starwood launch the next phase of its successful “On Tour with SPG” program,” said Russell Wallach, President of Live Nation Network. “Over the past three years, we’ve successfully turned thousands of music fans around the world into loyal Starwood guests by creating “money-can’t-buy” experiences with world-famous artists. “On Tour with SPG: Hear the Music, See the World” takes our partnership to the next level by bringing together social media components like Foursquare check-ins, with exclusive offline experiences and concerts to reach SPG members in new, interesting ways.”

Access Like No Other Artist Experiences
Through the  partnership between Starwood Preferred Guest and Live Nation, SPG members can also use their Starpoints to redeem for other access like no other music experiences such as artist meet and greets, music lessons with their favorite performers, backstage passes at the most coveted shows of the season, and so much more. This year SPG will present Summer in the Park for members to enjoy VIP access at Live Nation events in London’s iconic Hyde Park, such as Barclaycard Wireless Festival (Featuring Rihanna, Drake and Deadmau5) and The Hit Factory (featuring Bananarama, Jason Donovan and STEPS). To take advantage of this access and more members can visit SPG.com/moments

Multi-year strategic partnership
As part of the multi-year strategic partnership between SPG and Live Nation, Starwood Hotels & Resorts is the preferred hotel partner of Live Nation globally. The partnership assets include a robust suite of digital media components designed to drive brand awareness and room bookings for Starwood. Starwood hotels are integrated within Live Nation and Ticketmaster ticket confirmation pages and emails.   A “Hotels” link within venue information on Live Nation and Ticketmaster websites opens a listing of nearby Starwood hotels and serves as a significant revenue stream for Starwood.  Starwood also benefits from Live Nation corporate and artist tour booking business.

About Starwood Preferred Guest
The SPG program’s breakthrough policy of No Blackout Dates at the world’s most sought after collection of hotels reinvented the hospitality loyalty program when it launched in 1999. By creating a program centered on its members, SPG has developed the most passionate and knowledgeable membership base in the hotel loyalty space. Through its use of new technologies and innovative channels such as SPG.com, SPG.com/stayconnected, SPG.com/flights and others, SPG continues to innovate and lead the industry. By offering No Blackouts on standard rooms at 1,090 hotels and resorts in nearly 100 countries, No Blackouts on hundreds of airlines, the introduction of Your24 and SPG Lifetime, and unparalleled experiences available through SPG Moments at spg.com/moments, the program has proven to be a big draw for the world’s most frequent travelers, and a significant competitive advantage for Starwood.  For more information about Starwood Preferred Guest please visit SPG.com.

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.

About Live Nation Entertainment:
Live Nation Entertainment is the world’s leading live entertainment and ecommerce company, comprised of four market leaders: Ticketmaster.com, Live Nation Concerts, Front Line Management Group and Live Nation Network. Ticketmaster.com is the global event ticketing leader and one of the world’s top five ecommerce sites, with almost 27 million monthly unique visitors. Live Nation Concerts produces over 22,000 shows annually for more than 2,300 artists globally. Front Line is the world’s top artist management company, representing over 250 artists. These businesses power Live Nation Network, the leading provider of entertainment marketing solutions, enabling nearly 800 advertisers to tap into the 200 million consumers Live Nation delivers annually through its live event and digital platforms. For additional information, visit  www.livenation.com/investors.