Starwood Announces Key Appointments and Organizational Changes

Starwood Hotels & Resorts
Published: April 12th, 2012

Matt Avril, Miguel Ko and Denise Coll to Retire

STAMFORD, Conn., Apr 12, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) --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(R), The Luxury Collection(R), W(R), Westin(R), Le Meridien(R), Sheraton(R), Four Points(R) by Sheraton, Aloft(R), 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.

(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.)

SOURCE: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

Media Contact:

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
K.C. Kavanagh
Senior Vice President - Starwood Global Communications
T: 203.964.4170
kc.kavanagh@starwoodhotels.com