Merging of Loyalty Programs Brings 100 New Hotels to Starwood Preferred Guest

Brussels – 21 March 2006 - Today Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT) announced the completion of a major milestone in the integration of the Le Méridien which Starwood acquired 16 weeks ago. As of today Le Méridien’s reservations, distribution, loyalty and sales functions have been fully integrated and these hotels will now be able to harness the power of Starwood’s global infrastructure and sales and marketing systems, giving it a solid foundation for growth.

Milton Pedraza sheds some light on how businesses and online marketers can reach and target a high net-worth base of clients on the internet. Surprisingly, rich Americans tend to be heavy web users and are quite savvy to new trends and online concepts - of course security, spam and other concerns are crucial points to be addressed by marketers. In terms of online ad spend, the article recommends a heavy emphasis on search advertising.

"Email is still, by far, the killer application for the wealthy. Ninety-two percent tell the Luxury Institute they frequently use the internet to send and receive email. The second most popular use cited by the wealthy is checking news and weather (58 percent). Other frequent uses include planning travel and making reservations (42 percent), and paying bills (40 percent)."

Read the article: iMedia Connection: How to Reach American Millionaires

tags: ecommerce, hospitality

Manama, Bahrain, 20th March 2006 - Starwood Hotels & Resorts will host their annual Middle East roadshow in seven major destinations across the Middle East and the GCC between 18th and 26th March, 2006. A highlight of the roadshow is a series of industry workshops that will take place in each destination, namely Dubai, Bahrain, Kuwait, Doha, Amman, Jeddah and Riyadh.

Bringing together over forty experts from Starwood hotels worldwide, the special event will provide an excellent opportunity for hotel industry specialists to exchange views and expertise on latest developments in the industry.

by Jitendra Jain

On a recent (and first time) trip to Beirut, I had a chance to experience, first-hand, the city formerly touted at the “Paris of the East”. An unexpected fog veiled our approach to Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut, but did offer a few tantalizing glimpses of the azure waters and ample beaches of the city. The trip by taxi from the airport to the hotel wasn’t particularly impressive, since the scattering of dilapidated and war-ridden buildings along the way do create a depressing image.

The Four Points by Sheraton in Le Verdun was a sight for sore eyes after the journey, with a cool, trendy atmosphere and super-efficient service. The rooms were surprisingly spacious too and offered the perfect retreat to recharge for the work and play ahead.

A guide for students and parents interested in hotel, hospitality and tourism schools or universities, by Jitendra Jain

Are you planning to study hotel management...or perhaps hospitality, tourism, business or a mix of one or more of these fields? With the myriad of choices out there, it is very easy to get lost or sidetracked into choosing the wrong institution. After all, education is big business these days...and hotel school marketers will go to great lengths to paint a rosy picture of their school and facilities.

When running a search on the internet for hotel and hospitality schools, one is presented with hundreds of options and adverts...breaking through the clutter can be quite difficult. Here are a few tips on some of the basics to look for when choosing a good hotel or tourism school:

The Talent Jungle is an online community that caters to alumni, students, educators, professionals and students-to-be from hotel, hospitality, tourism and business schools / universities. Some of the forums featured on the site include:

• SSTH / SSH / HTF Passugg Switzerland Forum
• Forum for the BBA at the HTW Chur, Switzerland
• Forum for the Merit Swiss Asian School of Hotel Management Ooty
• Where in the world are you? Forum for Alumni to update others of their current whereabouts
• Job Leads & Issues Forum
• The Talent Jungle Site Forum.. use this for general issues including requests for creation of new forums.

tags: forums, hotel, business, tourism, hospitality, school, university

Created in 2003, the Talent Jungle is an online networking and exchange base for students, educators, alumni and professionals from the field of Tourism and Hospitality from various parts of the world including Switzerland, USA, UK, India, China among others. www.thetalentjungle.com

The Merit School Ooty is part of the Merit International Education Foundation and offers a three (3) year hotel management course and features various affiliations with schools in Switzerland, Dubai, Australia and USA.

MERIT functions in association to and in co-operation with the Swiss Schools - Switzerland, Alagappa University - India and The Educational Institute of the American Hotel and Lodging Association - EI of [AH&LA]- USA to cater to the different needs of students in various streams like Diploma, Degree, Post Graduation and up to Research level.

THE CAMPUS
Merit Swiss Asian School of Hotel Management - Ooty has an attached prominent star hotel, MERIT- INN SOUTHERN STAR which is nestled on the verdant slopes of the Blue Mountains and overlooking the picturesque hill town of Ooty. The campus consists of the Academic blocks, Hostel Rooms for boys and girls, Training Laboratories, Guest Rooms, Conference Halls, Faculty chambers, Training Restaurants, Computer Lab, Administrative Offices and the Gym.

Bachelor's in Business Administration Course, specialized in Tourism and Hospitality, offered by the HTW (University of Eastern Switzerland) Chur, in co-ordination with SSTH Passugg as a 1 year program following Hotel Management, or a full 3 year program.



BENEFITS: Combining tourism with business and economics
The BBA is an education in the field of tourism which combines learning of special skills with achieving social and management competences.

Various subjects enable the student to deal not only with international management methods, organizations, events, services and products, but also with cutting edge worldwide educational methods and the managing of intercultural teams from different points of view: language, culture and behaviour. Based on this, the whole study program will be conducted in German as well as in the English language.

Within the study of business and economics, the main emphasis is put on economics. The BBA however, combines management knowledge with the special requirements of the tourism industry. Through this all senses can be approached, not only the so-called hard factors but also smooth and emotional factors are integrated and trained.

Whoever wishes to become more familiar with tourism in all its facets, whoever wishes to experience and develop it actively, can translate this into action with passing the BBA exam for “Tourism and Hospitality”.

The Swiss School of Tourism & Hospitality (SSTH / SSH / HTF) Passugg and Chur, Switzerland



Living at SSH

The Swiss School head office is located in Chur, the capital of the canton, or state, of Graubünden. Graubünden itself has a long tradition when it comes to
hospitality and tourism. It is the home of world-famous resort areas such as St.Moritz, Davos and Klosters, and Graubünden has been named “the holiday corner of
Switzerland”. For those of you who remember a famous children’s story about a young Swiss girl called Heidi, you will find her home in the small area ‘Heidiland’,
just around the corner from Chur.

Chur is the oldest city in Switzerland- first settled 5000 years ago. Located about 120 kilometres from Zurich, Chur is easy and quick to reach as it is on
both the mainline railway and the motorway system. Where better to study hospitality and tourism management than in the place where it all began!

The school hotel where you will live and study is approximately 10 minutes outside of Chur, in a village called Passugg, with spectacular views to Chur itself and the surrounding mountains. With public transport you easily reach down town and also nearby holiday resorts for all kinds of sport and relaxation opportunities.

Manama, Bahrain, February 2006 – Remodeled, refined and resplendent, Sheraton Bahrain Hotel & Towers has started a complete and impressive refurbishment. From the grand entrance to the lofty heights of the stylish interior, the premium property is to get a complete makeover as part of Bahrain’s newest development underway – Bahrain World Trade Centre complex.

The project entails complete revamping of all 256 rooms and suites, meeting rooms, restaurants, recreation facilities and public areas; a brand new multi-story car-parking and direct link to the twin towers of the Bahrain World Trade Centre via the adjacent shopping mall.

By Rick Hendrie, President & Chief Experience Officer of Remarkable Branding

“People are aspirational. Living well is everybody’s goal at the moment.” Malcolm Knapp, restaurant industry trend tracker as quoted in the Wall Street Journal article ‘Investors Crave Upscale Steak Chains’, by Richard Gibson - 3/6/06

In recent articles, I’ve considered the prime importance of ‘Branded Moments of Truth’. These points of interaction between your guest and your experience are the essential determiners of success, more so than price or physical appearances. If, as Malcolm Knapp suggests, ‘living well’ is everyone’s goal, then creation of that feeling and achievement of that ‘aspiration’ happens only through successful & powerful management of your ‘Branded Moments of Truth’.

Microsoft has just released a Beta version of its Search and Start Page at www.live.com. The site has some really nifty features, including:
- Better Search Scrolling
- Slick interface
- Live Toolbar
- Customizable homepage

tags: search, technology

Dubai, UAE, March 6th, 2006 - The world’s fastest-growing luxury hotel brand, W Hotels Worldwide, is to operate a 350-room luxury hotel at Dubai Festival City, the ‘city-within-a-city’ being built on the banks of Dubai Creek. The W Dubai Festival City will be the brand’s first Middle East property.

The Starwood AME Internet / E-Commerce Team recently met in Beirut, Lebanon for the annual gathering (February / March 2006). This meeting of minds involved e-commerce executives and managers from Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Algeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, Lebanon, Oman and Belgium among others.

Check out the photo gallery: Goodtimes! The AME E-Commerce Team Meet in Beirut Feb 2006

tags: starwood, AME, ecommerce, hospitality