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Starwood Vacation Ownership Names Steve Williams New Chief Operating Officer

By: Starwood Hotels & Resorts |  6 Shares     110 Reads

Announcement Follows the Promotion of Former SVO Chief Operating Officer Serge Rivera to Co-President of Starwood Hotels & Resorts America’s Region

ORLANDO, Fla. - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc. (SVO) has promoted Steve Williams to Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Williams, a 12-year veteran of the company, will oversee the day-to-day operations of SVO. This new role, effective July 1, 2012, was created as part of organizational changes made by SVO’s parent company, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT), to combine the company’s North American and Latin American regions with SVO under a new Americas region. As part of the organizational change, Serge Rivera, who was Chief Executive Officer of SVO, was promoted to Co-President of Starwood Americas.

“Steve has been integral to the success of SVO and we are delighted to promote him to this new leadership role”
Williams joined Starwood in 2000, most recently serving as Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing. He brings more than three decades of experience in growing the vacation ownership, fractional, residential and branded hospitality industries into this new role. Before joining SVO, Williams held key roles at Marriott Vacation Club and Fairfield Communities.

"Steve has been integral to the success of SVO and we are delighted to promote him to this new leadership role,” said Frits van Paasschen, President and Chief Executive Officer of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. “The promotions of both Steve and Serge underscore the great talent we have within the ranks of our SVO organization and we look forward to the group’s continued success under Steve’s leadership."

The key structural change to unite SVO with the Americas reflects a strong, integrated relationship between Starwood and its vacation ownership group. By leveraging the company's combined resources, talent and understanding of its guests and owners, the move is expected to maximize synergies between hotel and timeshare operations.

Preferred access to Starwood hotels and resorts remains an attractive component of the SVO program. Flexibility is also a key driver. Through the Starwood Vacation NetworkSM (SVN) program, owners can choose to vacation within a collection of 19 villa resorts each year using their specific value of StarOptions®. Or they can choose from nearly 1,100 Starwood hotels and resorts in 100 countries--with no blackout dates--redeeming their specific value of Starpoints® through Starwood Preferred Guest® program.

About Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with 1103 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., a premier provider of world-class vacation experiences through villa-style resorts and privileged access to Starwood brands. For more information, please visit www.starwoodhotels.com.

(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.). The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Media Contacts:

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

Carrie Bloom
203 964 5755

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