Stamford, Connecticut, USA, July 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) announced that Ms. Alison Taylor has succeeded Christie Hicks, who retired in March of this year, as Senior Vice President of the company’s Sales Organization. In her new role, Ms. Alison Taylor will oversee the sales strategy for Starwood’s B2B business and lead the company’s global team of over 5,000 sales professionals. She brings 25 years of experience and deep expertise to the position.
Alison Taylor, Senior Vice President, Global Sales Organization, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
Commenting on her new appointment, Ms. Alison Taylor said, “I’m excited to embark on this new professional opportunity. I look forward to leveraging my extensive experience and strong relationships with both clients and Starwood colleagues to grow our group and meetings business, while enhancing our strategy across corporate, leisure, and group segments. Starwood has always strived to understand how our customers buy and adapted our sales approach accordingly to deliver exceptional service. In this regard, I will work closely with Starwood’s regional sales leaders including Mary Casey, Nichlas Maratos, Alan Duggan, and Asad Ahmed to unite our sales force, better deploy our people and resources, and meet the evolving needs of our customers across all business areas.”
She added, “We will continue to expand the SPG Pro program, the industry’s first comprehensive B2B loyalty program. We use this platform to build stronger and more personal relationships with our global clients and next-generation travel professionals. At the same time, we are focused on launching new technologies, such as the recently introduced ProMeetings app, which provides meeting planners and SPG Pro members with the flexible, personalized meeting planning experience they need, ensuring seamless event execution for attendees.”
Prior to this new role, Ms. Alison Taylor was Head of Starwood’s Global Sales Center in Asia Pacific. Over the course of a decade of rapid growth, she led the Starwood Asia Pacific sales team to become one of the industry’s top-performing elite sales organizations. Ms. Alison Taylor also successfully led Starwood’s fast-growing digital marketing and revenue management division, driving significant business to Starwood hotels across the Asia Pacific region. She has now relocated from Singapore to Stamford, Connecticut, where Starwood’s global headquarters is based.
Ms. Alison Taylor joined ITT Sheraton Group 27 years ago. She has lived and worked in six different countries across the Asia Pacific region and, prior to Starwood’s acquisition of the Le Méridien brand, she also worked for the brand in Indonesia. Born in Australia and having completed most of her education in London, Ms. Alison Taylor holds a Bachelor’s degree in Hotel Management and Marketing from the University of Melbourne.
About Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading companies in the world’s hotel and leisure industry, with more than 1,200 properties in over 100 countries and territories and over 180,000 associates at its owned and managed properties. As one of the world’s most recognized brands, Starwood is a fully integrated owner, operator, and franchisor of hotels, resorts, and residences with globally renowned brands including: St. Regis®, The Luxury Collection®, W®, Westin®, Le Méeridien®, Sheraton®, Four Points® by Sheraton, Aloft®, Element®, and the newly introduced Tribute Portfolio®.TMStarwood boasts an industry-leading and highly acclaimed loyalty program — SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest®), through which members can earn and redeem points for free hotel stays, room upgrades, and flights with no blackout dates. Starwood recently announced plans to spin off its vacation ownership business, Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., into a separate publicly traded company by the end of 2015. The business includes villa-style resorts and the world-class vacation experiences created by Starwood’s brand privileges. For more information, please visit www.starwoodhotels.com/cn.