05 Oct 2014
W Taipei wins “Best City Hotel – Taipei” for the fourth year running
SINGAPORE, 3 October 2014 – Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT) has once again received strong endorsement by Asia Pacific's travel trade professionals after being crowned “Best Global Hotel Chain” at the 25th Annual TTG Travel Awards 2014 at an awards ceremony held in Bangkok last night, while W Taipei bagged the “Best City Hotel – Taipei” award for the fourth year running.
The TTG Travel Awards is organized by one of Asia Pacific's most well-regarded travel trade publishers, TTG Asia Media, whose flagship publication “TTG Asia" celebrated its 40th anniversary this year. Winners for the Travel Suppliers Category, to which the Best Global Hotel Chain and Best City Hotel - Taipei belong, are determined through valid votes cast by industry professionals such as travel consultants, travel experts, tour operators and destination management companies, who are also readers of TTG Asia Media's stable of seven trade publications. Each award recognizes the best in the travel industry. This year, a total of 150,000 valid votes were received from early May to early July.
Mr. Stephen Ho, President, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Asia Pacific said: “We want to thank the readers of TTG Asia Media's group of publications for voting for us. This award is truly an encouragement for Starwood and an affirmation that we have been doing everything right as a hotel partner to our B2B customers. I want to share this award with all my colleagues in every Starwood property across Asia Pacific, our global, divisional and regional team members as well as our Starwood Sales Organizations worldwide. Their combined efforts made it possible for Starwood to be a best-in-class hotel company. This award is a tribute to them as well as the travel trade partners and customers who have supported us over the years.”
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Asia Pacific has also received other accolades from travel trade publications this year, including:
- Three awards at the 11th Annual Travel Weekly's Readers Choice Awards – Top Overall Hotel Group, Best Hotel Chain: Asia, and Best Hotel Chain: Hawaii/Pacific
- Best Global Hotel Chain Operating in Greater China at the 7th Annual TTG China Travel Awards 2014. Starwood has won this award for three consecutive years since 2012.
Continuing its commitment to be the easiest company to do business with
Recently, Starwood and its award-winning loyalty program Starwood Preferred Guest® (SPG®) announced an all-new comprehensive customer loyalty program for meeting and travel professionals called “SPG Pro”. Starting from 15 October 2014, SPG Pro will offer meeting and travel professionals SPG elite status, upgrades and Starpoints® for B2B business booked at any of Starwood's nearly 1,200 properties around the world.
Starwood Senior Vice-President, Sales – Asia Pacific, Ms. Alison Taylor, added: “Starwood has always valued the relationship we have with our travel trade partners and we strive to add value to that relationship by being the easiest hotel company to do business with. In addition, we want our partners to have a rewarding connection with us. In today's ever evolving world, travel professionals are no longer just our partners in business, but they are also our guests. They stay with us on their holidays and dine at our restaurants. SPG Pro enables them to combine points earned through both business and personal travel bookings in one account so that they can enjoy the multiple benefits and exclusive experiences that the program offers.”
Fast-expanding portfolio
Starwood continues to be one of the fastest growing hotel companies in Asia Pacific. It currently has nearly 280 hotels in operation and over 200 hotels in the pipeline. Since January 2014, Starwood has opened 18 hotels, including The St. Regis Chengdu, The Castle Hotel, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Dalian, The Azure Qiantang – a Luxury Collection Hotel, Hangzhou in China; Sheraton Melbourne Hotel and Four Points by Sheraton Brisbane Hotel in Australia; Sheraton Fiji Resort & Spa, Tokoriki Island, Fiji; Sheraton New Caledonia Deva Resort, New Caledonia; and very recently, Aloft Seoul Gangnam, South Korea. By the end of this year, Starwood aims to open at least 10 more hotels with highlight openings including:
- Le Méridien Thimphu – Starwood's entry into Bhutan;
- Sheraton Samoa Aggie Grey's Resort - the company's debut in Samoa;
- W Beijing Chang'an, China;
- Le Méridien Suvarnabhumi, Bangkok Golf Resort & Spa, Thailand;
- Four Points by Sheraton Puchong, Malaysia;
- ITC Grand Bharat, a Luxury Collection Resort, Gurgaon, India;
- Le Méridien Mahabaleshwar Resort, India
About Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with nearly 1,200 properties in 100 countries, and 181,400 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood 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®. 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 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.
MANAGER, CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS
T 65 6335 4824 M 65 9770 5234
SPECIALIST, CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS
T 65 6335 4879
DIRECTOR, CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS
T 65 6335 4804
STARWOOD ASIA PACIFIC HOTELS & RESORTS PTE.LTD.
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SINGAPORE 038989
