STARWOOD ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF SPG PRO

From IMEX America in Las Vegas, Starwood Preferred Guest® (SPG®), the award-winning loyalty program from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., announces the live launch of SPG Pro, the all-new, comprehensive loyalty program for meeting and travel professionals.  Starting today, registered professionals, accredited travel agents and SPG members who influence group, event and corporate travel will earn SPG elite status, upgrades and Starpoints for B2B business booked at any of Starwood’s nearly 1,200 properties around the world through www.spg.com/pro.

“We are thrilled to announce that SPG Pro has gone live, allowing us to provide even  more personalized service for our global customers and members and to reward them for the business that they influence, whether it is business or leisure,” said Christie Hicks, Senior Vice President, Starwood Sales Organization. “Now any SPG member, travel professional or meeting planner will earn Starpoints for the business they influence including corporate off sites, office holiday parties or even personal events like weddings or anniversaries.”  

Any SPG member who books a group stay, event or corporate business meeting, regardless of if they are a travel professional or not, will earn Starpoints and status for the business they influence. The more members book the more they earn, which means access to everything SPG has to offer and reaching elite status even faster through combined B2B and personal bookings.

Today, B2B accounts for nearly 70% of Starwood’s overall room revenue and is comprised of corporate travel, meetings and events and leisure and wholesale travel. With a salesforce of more than 5,000 globally, Starwood’s Sales Offices manage 1,200 global accounts from more than 30 offices around the world.

As the B2B landscape is shifting toward small meetings, which already accounts for 80% of Starwood’s group business, Starwood is targeting this untapped source of B2B potential with the knowledge that SPG members are small business owners, business consultants and senior executives who influence business and yearn to be recognized and rewarded in a currency they already adore – SPG elite status and Starpoints.