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Starwood announces key appointments and organizational changes

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Category: Appointments

Created on Friday, 13 April 2012 09:09

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.