Starwood Hotels & Resorts is a leading global hotel brand with over 750 properties across 80 countries. Since its founding in 1969, Starwood has expanded through acquisitions of brands such as Westin, Sheraton, W Hotels, and The Luxury Collection. Starwood launched an updated website in 2001 and uses mobile marketing to boost online bookings, which now represent 11% of total revenue. The company continues to sign new management agreements and open hotels around the world.

1.
Starwood hotels& resorts
worldwide
by Anastasia Kyritsi
Professor: Dr Emmanuelides Paul

2.
Overview
OVERVIEW
Since its founding in 1969, StarwoodHotel &Resorts,Inc.has become a leading global luxury
and leisure resort and hotelcompany.TheStarwood Hotel line brands include St.Regis®,
TheLuxuryCollection®, Sheraton®, Westin®, W® and FourPoin®bySheraton. Starwood Hotels
are located in more than 80 countries with nearly 750 properties at 120,000 employees. To
meet the needs of consumers, Starwood launched ­renovated
StarwoodHotels.com in July of 2001 as an outlet to facilitate guests’ desire to compare prices,
update the Preferred Guest program and book hotel reservations.The site is the central
location for booking reservations at all Starwood Hotel brands.Since the site’s launch,website­
generated sales have jumped from $200 million to a projected $1 billon annually representing
approximately 11 percent of Starwood’s total booking revenue.Furthermore the use of Mobile
marketing with direct hyperlocal ads
bought from google, boosted the bookings by more than 20 times. The company continues
expanding globally despite the threats it continues to innovate and to being developed as
Starwood Hotels opened 74 hotels in 26 countries in 2014.
Starwood Hotels signed 175 new management and franchise agreements in 2014.
History
Starwood Hotels and Resorts was originally formed by the real estate investment firm
Starwood Capital to take advantage of a tax break; at the time the company was known
as Starwood Lodging. Initially, Starwood Lodging owned a number of hotels throughout
North America, all under different brand names. The Westin Hotel Company was
purchased in 1994 from Aoki Corporation of Japan. Starwood acquired the Sheraton,
Four Points by Sheraton, and The Luxury Collection brands from ITT Sheraton in 1998.
In 1999, Starwood launched their "W" Hotels brand. In September 2005, Starwood
announced the launch of ‘’Aloft’’, a new hotel brand based on W. Aloft Hotels catered
toward business travelers. In 2005, Starwood purchased the Le Méridien brand

3. In 2004, Starwood's founder and CEO Barry Sternlicht stepped down as CEO to focus
his attention on his other firm, Starwood Capital. He remained on the Board of Directors
until 2005. He was succeeded as CEO by Steven J. Heyer, and Starwood began selling
a number of its company­owned hotels, instead focusing on becoming a management
company and franchiser for its current and future hotel brands. In April 2007, Steven J.
Heyer left the company on the request of the Board of Directors because of an issue
with Heyer's management style and after allegations of personal misconduct. Chairman
of the Board Bruce Duncan served as interim CEO until September 2007, when the
company announced Heyer's successor, Frits van Paasschen.
Starwood has customer contact centers (CCC) in nine locations: Wichita, Kansas;
Austin, Texas; Fall River, Massachusetts; St Thomas, Ontario; Cork, Ireland; Singapore;
Tokyo, Japan; Guangzhou, China; and Gurgaon, India.
In late May 2014 reports surfaced that the company had recently made a takeover bid
for InterContinental Hotels Group worth $10 billion, which neither company confirmed or
denied

4.
Brands
(The following list of Starwood brands is chronological, according to each brand's entry
into Starwood)
Westin
The Westin Hotels and Resorts brand is Starwood's largest upscale hotels and resorts
brand. It was bought by Starwood in 1994 and is also the oldest brand within Starwood,
dating back to 1930.
Sheraton
Sheraton is Starwood's 'flagship' brand, providing luxury hotel and resort
accommodation. It began operating in 1937 and was sold to Starwood in 1998 by ITT.
Also under the Sheraton brand are 7 Vacation Ownership properties.
Four Points by Sheraton
Four Points by Sheraton was launched in ITT Sheraton in 1995 as a mid­scale hotel
brand. Originally the brand was created by renaming existing Sheraton "Inns" (a
smaller, limited service version of Sheraton Hotels). The new name avoided the
confusion some guests found in having two hotel categories (full service and mid­scale)
with the same name (Sheraton). These hotels joined Starwood along with Sheraton in
1998.
The Luxury Collection
The Luxury Collection brand began when ITT Sheraton purchased a controlling interest
in CIGA (Compagnia Italiana Grandi Alberghi, or Italian Grand Hotels Company), an
Italian hotel chain, in 1994. Those hotels, as well as a number of top­tier Sheraton
Hotels, were then marketed as ITT Sheraton Luxury Hotels. After Starwood bought
Sheraton, they established a separate brand identity for The Luxury Collection and
expanded it.
Both ITT Sheraton and later Starwood kept CIGA's original logo (the four horses of St.
Mark) for The Luxury Collection brand logo until 2010; each Luxury Collection hotel now
uses its own logo. Many hotels in The Luxury Collection are smaller establishments in
converted palaces or other significant buildings, others are restored historic hotels.

5. Confusingly, some hotels in The Luxury Collection which were originally part of the ITT
Sheraton Luxury group kept their Sheraton name when the Luxury division was spun off
as a completely separate brand under Starwood. There are four such hotels remaining
today, operating with the name Sheraton, but not technically part of Sheraton. These
hotels are the Sheraton Addis (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia), Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit
(Bangkok, Thailand), Sheraton Algarve Hotel (Albufeira, Portugal), and Sheraton Kuwait
Hotel (Kuwait City, Kuwait).
A part of the Collection, the Royal Penthouse Suite, at ‘’Hotel President Wilson’’ in
Geneva, billed at US$65,000 per night, is listed at number 1 on World's 15 most
expensive hotel suites complied by CNN Go in 2012.
W Hotels
W Hotels is Starwood's luxury boutique hotel brand, generally marketed towards a
younger crowd. It was launched in 1998 with the W New York, a conversion of the old
Doral Inn hotel at 541 Lexington Avenue in Manhattan and the brand has since
expanded with over fifty hotels and resorts around the world.
Though the hotels vary from newly built flagship properties to more modest conversions
of previous hotels, they have a common theme of spare, minimalist modern decor and
hip, informal names for categories of rooms and public areas. For example the lobbies
of all the hotels are known as the "Living Room." W Hotels attempt to include the letter
W wherever possible ­ the swimming pool is known as "Wet", the concierge is known as
"Whatever Whenever", the laundry bag in every room is known as "Wash", and so on.
St. Regis
St. Regis is Starwood's main luxury brand, launched in 1999. It is named for The St.
Regis Hotel in New York, which was built in 1904 in Manhattan at 5th Avenue and 55th
Street by John Jacob Astor IV, who also founded the Astoria Hotel (which later became
the Waldorf­Astoria Hotel) and who died in 1912 on the RMS Titanic. In the 1930s, head
bartender Fernand Petiot, introduced the Bloody Mary cocktail. The St. Regis was a
Sheraton from 1966 on, and following a lavish restoration from 1985­1991 was part of
the ITT Sheraton Luxury division before it became the cornerstone of Starwood's new
brand.
Le Méridien
Le Méridien was founded by Air France in 1972 and was sold to Starwood in 2005, by
which point it was based in the UK. It has 130 properties worldwide and its first property
was Le Méridien Etoile in France.

6. Aloft, a Vision of W Hotels
Aloft is a mid­scale, urban­style business / boutique hotel brand. The brand was
launched in 2005, in a relationship with W similar to Four Points by Sheraton and its
'brand parent', Sheraton.
Element by Westin
Announced in 2006, this is Starwood's first brand of hotels intended to be
environmentally friendly. The designs include energy and water efficient features.The
first Element hotel opened in Lexington, Massachusetts in July 2008.Element hotels are
built eco­friendly from the ground up, from the floors made of recycled materials to
energy­efficient lighting and plumbing fixtures. In 2013 the first Canadian location
opened in Vaughan, Ontario. In September 2014 the first German location opened in
Frankfurt.

7. Starwood Preferred Guest programm(SPG)
Enrolling in Starwood's Preferred Guest (SPG)’’ Loyalty program ‘’a costumer earns
Starpoints on upcoming hotel stays redeemable for reward flights, room upgrades ...and many
more.For the porpuses of that programm Starwood had importnat Partnerships.
It has a credit card partnerships with American Express (MBNA Canada Bank
partnership replaced by American Express in 2010). Starwood Preferred Guest also has
a partnership with 32 affiliated airlines allowing guests to redeem their points for flights
under the "SPG Flights" program.According to Starwood Hotels and Resorts' corporate
profile, the SPG program has over 17 million members.
Online travel companies often wonder if their mobile marketing campaigns are resulting
in customer purchases.
Sometimes a real­world example can help show how mobile ads lead to conversions.

8.
Starwood mobile marketing case study
In November 2009, Starwood Hotels & Resorts hired digital marketing agency
Razorfish.
The companies analyzed the number and duration of calls to each brand, attributing a
return on investment (ROI) to each brand campaign.
The companies also discovered how customers use mobile ads to call and find
directions to properties. They used the information to use to place ads more effectively,
so that they’re communicating potential guests at the best time and place.
The breakthrough came when they began to insert click­to­call phone numbers and
maps (with one­click driving directions) into their search ads.
These hyperlocal ads resulted in thousands of calls per month and boosted
month­on­month mobile bookings by 20 times. Same­day bookings made up a sizeable
chunk of these calls.
By 2012, click­to­call ads were driving a majority of mobile search bookings for
Starwood, and mobile traffic to the company’s branded sites had grown overall by about
200%.
By adding phone numbers and maps right in the ads, Starwood boosted its ROI on its
mobile ads to a level that was higher than the company’s ROI on its desktop marketing
campaigns.

9.
New calculator for planning mobile ads
You don’t have to be the size of Starwood to need a mobile strategy, though.
Companies that buy Google AdWords sometimes struggle to figure out if their mobile
advertising campaigns are leading to sales.
So Google has introduced an online calculator called “Full Value of Mobile” to help
businesses large or small understand the ROI of their mobile ads.
NB: Images courtesy of Google’s Mobile Playbook and Google’s Starwood Case Study.
Starwood social media strategy
How Starwood Hotels Made $2m From A Facebook Page

10.
Despite social media’s prominence in our personal and professional lives and its
importance as a sales and marketing tool, voices within the hospitality industry continue
to question its relevance wondering how they will benefit from social media elements.
Learn how Starwood Hotels made $2m from facebook.
What’s driving their concerns is a desire to see some hard and fast facts and figures,
that any effort they put in will be paid back in bucket and spade fulls.
They are echoing the concerns of many
companies that are either considering or actively engaged in social media. The $64
million question that everybody’s asking is – what is the ROI of social media?
Firms can see how their information is being shared and posts talked about, but sitting
away in their offices nervously punching their calculators are the bean counters who
want to see some lucre rolling in.
More Profits
Evidence that social media activities are starting to boost the bottom line are out there
and hoteliers are among those making some big bucks. One of those is Starwood, an
American hotel and leisure company that owns brands such as Westin, Sheraton, W
Hotel and The Luxury Collection.
The megabrand has been active across numerous social networks for a number of
years including Twitter and Facebook. Back in 2011, Justin Holmerud, a Starwood
executive told a conference of hoteliers that nearly four out of 10 people (36%) who
follow a hotel on Facebook and Twitter buy more from that particular hotel or chain. This
was a percentage he wanted to see increased.

11. “Only 36% buy more after they become a fan,”
Holmerud said. “These are the people who follow you. They read your Facebook posts.
They get your e­mails. They read your tweets, but they don’t go further than that. They
don’t engage with you on any level.”
So he exhorted his audience to go even further to turn engaged followers into
advocates. He obviously followed his own advice because as of 1 October 2013
Starwood had made $2 million net in additional room sales from one fan page alone.
So How Did Starwood Do It?
Working with marketing company Brand Karma, Starwood created a Facebook fan page
as a central hub to promote deals from its many brands. Within a few months it had
attracted 250,000 fans by placing a few well targeted ads over the network.
To their delight the company
executives found that on average Facebook fans spend seven to fourteen times more
than non­fans and have become fans for the purpose of getting great deals.

12. Starwood’s social media success was also built on the back of its previous efforts that
had helped to increase visibility among social media users. One of its most successful
engagement strategies was the scavenger hunts.
Users had to find a mystery hotel by unlocking clues on Facebook and Twitter. The
winning location rotated daily. The first ten people to solve the puzzle and who
approached the reception desk of the hotel with a pre­scripted line were awarded a
prize such as free weekend stays.
Other strategies included the tried and tested, such as actively engaging with followers
and quickly responding to comments and complaints.
It is powerful case studies such as this that are starting to convince some hoteliers that
social media may be one of their greatest allies.
Starwood foresight
Starwood Hotels highlights growth in 2014 and anticipated growth for 2015 in a press
release this week. There are some interesting data points.
Starwood Hotels opened 74 hotels in 26 countries in 2014.
Starwood Hotels signed 175 new management and franchise agreements in 2014. This
is the most new deals since 2007.
2014 Milestones Starwood Hotels
● Starwood Hotels reached 1,200 hotels globally.
● 300th
hotel in Asia Pacific and China
● 150th
hotel in China (with all nine brands represented)
● 90th
hotel in Africa and the Middle East
● 175th
Luxury hotel
● 750th
Upper Upscale hotel
● 300th
Mid­Market hotel
● 12 new Starwood luxury hotels debuted in 2014. Starwood expects to open 25
more luxury hotels in 2015 and 2016.
● Westin opened 200th hotel.
● Aloft, Element and Four Points, mid­market Starwood Hotels brands opened 35
hotels in 2014.
● Element Frankfurt, Germany is first hotel outside USA for this brand. Hotels are
in pipeline for Amsterdam and London.
Projected 2015/2016 milestones for Starwood Hotels
● Sheraton expected to open 500th hotel in 2016.
● Sheraton brand accounts for 40% Starwood Hotels new growth in Asia Pacific.
● Sheraton will open hotels in Iraq, Romania and Samoa in 2015.

13. ● Le Meridien brand will grow more in 2015 than any year since 2005 acquisition.
Most new hotels in Le Meridien brand will be hotel conversions.
● Le Meridien Dhaka, Bangladesh on March 1, 2015.
● Le Meridien Paro Riverfront, Bhutan May 1, 2015.
● Le Méridien Mahabaleshwar Resort & Spa – Opening March 1, 2015
● Westin Doha, Qatar, October 2015, will be fourth Westin brand hotel in Middle
East.
● Four Points, Aloft and Element mid­market segment account for 40% of
Starwood’s global pipeline of new hotels and these brands will comprise 50% of
Starwood hotel openings in 2015.
● Four Points will reach 200 hotels in 2015.
● Aloft will reach 100 open hotels in 2015. Aloft will expand in China and Germany.
Starwood Luxury Hotels
2014 Openings
W Bogota
Luxury Collection – La Posada de Santa Fe, New Mexico
Luxury Collection – Excelsior Hotel Gallia Milan, Italy
Luxury Collection – The Castle Hotel, Dalian, China
2015 openings
St. Regis Istanbul (March 1, 2015)
St. Regis Macau, Cotai Central (August 1, 2015)
St. Regis Dubai (October 1, 2015)
St. Regis Mumbai (no webpage or date. Some info on luxurylaunches.com)
Luxury Collection – The Grand Mansion, Nanjing, China (March 1, 2015)
Luxury Collection – The St. Anthony, San Antonio, Texas (March 19, 2015)
Luxury Collection – Grand Hills, Broumana, Lebanon
W Amsterdam, Netherlands Sep 2015 (Hotel News Resource )
W Goa, India (November 1, 2015)

14. Starwood Hotels & Resorts showcases growing portfolio
in Greater China at IT&CM China 2013
Sheraton Huzhou Hot Spring Resort photo
SHANGHAI ­ IT&CM CHINA 2013 ­ REPORT: On the back of a growing China portfolio
of 119 hotels and over 100 more in the pipeline, Starwood Hotels & Resorts returns
strongly to Incentive Travel & Conventions, Meetings (IT&CM) China after a
four­year hiatus from the MICE tradeshow.
Being showcased at Starwood’s booth (B10 in Hall 4) at IT&CM China, which takes
place from 17 to 19 April 2013, are new hotels such as the recently opened W
Guangzhou – the first W­branded hotel in China, the architecturally stunning and iconic
Sheraton Huzhou Hot Spring Resort, and the largest hotel in Starwood’s portfolio –
Sheraton Macao Hotel, Cotai Central.
“We are excited to be returning to IT&CM China after a 4­year hiatus,” said Wendy
Huang, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Greater China, Starwood Hotels & Resorts
Worldwide, Inc. “China is Starwood’s second largest market outside of the US, and our
commitment to China is growing ever stronger, from our senior leadership team
relocation to China in 2011 to the launch of the Starwood Preferred Guest Chinese
iPhone App. Our participation is a strong indication of our commitment to travel trade

15. partners and we look forward to providing the latest updates of our growing portfolio as
well as the latest offers.”
China has the highest number of Starwood brands in Asia with eight of the company’s
nine brands present, including Sheraton, St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, W, Westin,
Le Méridien, Four Points by Sheraton and Aloft. These are spread across 119 hotels
and resorts in first, second and third tier cities. Having so many brands, each catering
to different requirements, gives Starwood the ability to accommodate events of all sizes
and needs. Its pipeline of another 105 hotels and resorts will further entrench
Starwood’s position as the largest and leading venue and hospitality provider in China.
Why expanding in China?
In recent years, China has played host to premier global events like the 2008 Olympics
in Beijing and the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai. Interest in traveling to China and doing
business with China has been on the rise for the past decade. Few industries, if any,
have benefited more from growing interest in all things China than the tourism industry.
Tourism in China, both domestic and international, has exploded in recent years and
foreign hotel companies are racing to fly their flags in key markets in China and capture
a portion of the rapidly growing tourism market.
The hospitality industry is one of the forerunners in economic development and
privatization in China(Chan & Yeung, 2009).
In a recent report published by InterContinental
Hotels Group (IHG), the largest hotel company in the world by number of rooms, China
is expected to reach 6.1 million hotel rooms by 2025, the same as the United
States(Yang, 2011).
China is the fourth top international destination country and will be the top
internationaldestination country with over 137million international arrivals by the year
2020 according to the World Tourism Organization's forecast (Guillet, Zhang, & Gao,
2012). This literature review will explore which multinational hotel companies are
expanding in China as well as the general economic and cultural conditions that will
affect future growth in the country.
1stWave of Development:
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) entered China in the mid 1980’s. They were the
first U.S. based MHG to focus on growth in China. It is apparent that IHG is showing no

16. signs of scaling back their fast paced development in the region. IHG opened 8,084 new
rooms in
China in 2011 alone, bringing their total room count in China count to an astonishing
55,182 rooms. The new IHG hotel openings included four of their flagship luxury
InterContinental Hotels and 11 Crowne Plaza Hotels, which cater to the much sought
after business travel segment. IHG reported 17.4% RevPAR for the year in 2011, which
was a 10.7% increase over the previous year
(HMA Staff, 2012)
.
IHG, hoping to continue their strong financial performance in China, has announced
significant upcoming development and plans for strategic alliances over the next few
years. In Macau, IHG partnered with Sands China Ltd. to develop the world’s largest
Holiday Inn, which opened in April 2012 with 1,224 rooms as part of Sands’ $4.4B Cotai
Central project. Interestingly, Sands Cotai Central will also be the site of two of IHG’s
major competitors in the region–Starwood and Hilton. Directly adjacent to IHG’s Holiday
Inn M acau there will be a Sheraton (Starwood) and Conrad (Hilton).IHG, like all foreign
hotel companies operating in China, are hoping that the strong financial performance in
China and other emerging markets will help offset the effect of the
recent economic downturn in the U.S. market. Looking ahead, in spite of considerable
uncertainty in the Eurozone, IHG is well positioned globally to benefit from positive long
term industry trends and, in particular, growing demand in emerging markets
.”(HMA Staff, 2012)
2nd and 3rd Waves of Development
Seeking to mimic the early success of IHG, companies such asMarriott, Hilton and
Starwood partnered with private, public and state­owned enterprises to expand their
operations to China. These U.S. hotel companies initially entered gateway cities like
Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong with the intent of establishing their premie
r legacy global brands. Mark DeCocinis,Ritz­Carlton Regional General Manager for
China, supported the IHG CEO’s view on China as
the current premier global market.
“The Asian hotel market has come back stronger and more
quickly than other parts of the world
—and China is leading the way.”
(Wassener, 2010, p. 1)
Ritz­Carlton, which went from having 1 hotel in China in 2007 to 11 hotels in 2011, will
be opening another 10 hotels in Asia in the next 5 years. Of those 10 hotels, DeCocinis
believes 5 of those will be in second tier Chinese cities like Chengdu and Qingdao

17. (Wassener, 2010).
After a successful launch of their legacy global brands many MHG’s quickly established
footholds in gateway cities with their non
­flagship brands. For instance, Marriott brought Courtyard and Renaissance to Beijing
after they had successfully launched Ritz
­Carlton, JW Marriott and Marriott in Beijing. Starwood brought Four Points and aloft to
China after they had previously launched the Sheraton, Westin and St. Regis brands.
Allowing Chinese customers and global travelers to become acquainted with foreign
brands via placement in gateway cities would increase the level of recognition and
success rate with expansion to smaller markets in the future.
Figure 1 illustrates the aggressive growth plans of five MHG’s operating in China who
are quickly expanding their market share. Figure 1 shows the current number of hotels,
those under development and projects in the pipeline. In China, Starwood is expanding
its hotel base by 132%, Marriott by 58%, Hilton by 336% and Hyatt by 124%. Starwood
was one of the first foreign hotel companies to pursue domestic tourists within China
outside of gateway cities and
was also the first mover among foreign hotel companies to build luxury properties in the
domestic hub business cities of Xi’an and Chengdu. The company currently has more
than 3 times as many properties as Hilton and Hyatt with an equally aggressive growth
strategy to ensure their luxury brands are the most widely spread throughout China.
China as ‘Weak Point’
“Asia is their weak point, specifically China,” Scholes said. “The challenge is that there
has been such strong hotel development, which was OK when GDP was growing but
now that things have slowed, demand for all these hotels is lower.”
Revenue per available room declined by 3 percent in Asia outside China, the company
said. Revenue for hotels owned, leased and held in joint ventures declined to $416
million from $418 million.
Starwood SWOT analysis
Strength
1. Successful social media
campaigns and increasing revenue
through digital media

18. 2. Starwood is an extremely versatile
brand. Every brand under this
umbrella has its unique branding.
3. 1100+ hotels in around 100
countries through 9 different brands
4. The brand “Elementy” is the first
LEED­certified hotel brand since it
integrates green design, construction
and operational practices that make
the business sustainable as well as
profitable
5. The mere number of locations
increases loyalty to brand
6. Their loyalty program is the
world’s most award­winning guest
loyalty program
7. Has an employee strength of
nearly 150,000
Weakness
1. Stock prices decline has been a
concern
2. Strong presence in US but
globally Starwood is still not as
recognised
3. No mid­market or budget projects.
Reduced spending capacity has
impacted the choice of hotels.
Opportunity
1. Vacation ownership is a growing
market
2. Digitalized media has gone big
and has become a new source of
revenue for companies
3. Economic downturn has reduced
spending capacity, travellers are
looking for offers or packages that
might help them cut their cost down
without really having an impact on
the travelling experience

19. 4. Diverse target markets
Threats
1. Constant political disturbances
across the globe (in India)
2. Most hospitality giants are
venturing into new emerging
markets, increasing competitive
pressure.
Competition
Competitors
1. Wyndham Worldwide
2. Marriott International
3.Hilton InterContinental Hotels
Starwood important data
Revenue comparison
● US$ 6,115.0 million (2013)
● US$ 6,321.0 million (2012)
● US$ 635.0 million (2013)
● US$ 562.0 million (2012)
During the year ended December 31, 2013, Starwood generated franchise fees by
geographic area as follows:
North America (and Caribbean)................................................81.2%
Latin America (and Mexico)....................................................3.7%
Americas.................................................................84.9%
Europe.....................................................................6.7%
Africa and the Middle East......................................................0.4%
Europe, Africa and the Middle East...........................................7.1%
Greater China................................................................2.0%
Rest of Asia.................................................................6.0%
Asia Pacific...............................................................8.0%
Total.......................................................................100.0%

21. Conclusion
Starwood is a more and more succesful brand in hotels-resorts globally that has
expanded already in important emerging markets such as CHINA and has further
strengthen its brand within the Luxury Market globally. Moreover using the ‘’Digital
Marketing’’tools has significantly boosted its bookings and making use of mobile
applications together with social media platforms has only created further value and
recognition.But the competition is high as also other famous hospitality brands are
doing the same and therefore struggling for market shares in some quite turbelent
socio-economic conditions worldwide. Will Starwood Hotels create more alliances,
further acquisitions and key partnerships in near future?
We shall wait and see….
References
http://www.starwoodhotels.com/corporate/directory/hotels/all/gr/detail.html

22.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-13/starwood-hotels-quarterly-prof
it-declines-on-bal-harbour-revenue.html
http://www.traveldailynews.asia/news/article/52153/starw
ood­hotels­amp­resorts­showcases
http://www.traveldailynews.asia/news/article/52153/starwood­hotels­amp­resorts­showcases
http://www.mbaskool.com/brandguide/tourism­and­hospitality/4276­starwood­hotels­and­resor
ts.html
http://development.starwoodhotels.com/writable/resources/2012_hot_annual_report.pdf
http://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2365&context=thesesdissertation
s
http://westfaironline.com/52384/starwood­banks­on­emerging­markets/