SHANGHAI, China, Oct. 6 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and CTRIP International Ltd. recently concluded a successful Gold Bars promotion and renewed their business partnership at a press event in Shanghai on September 17, 2008.
First of its kind in the industry, the Starwood/CTRIP Gold Bars promotion is a creative and unique campaign launched to drive visits to Starwood hotels and resorts in China through CTRIP.com. This campaign has generated a tremendous amount of interest from travelers since its launch in June this year. Travelers who booked rooms at Starwood hotels in China through CTRIP.com during the two months promotion period stood the chance to win a 10gram 24K golden bar.
At the recent press event, Starwood and CTRIP officially selected the winners using a random selection program, witnessed by Shanghai Notary Public Office. Starwood and CTRIP also announced that the promotion will start again, from 18th September, with a bigger draw for travelers. A total of 200 gold bars will be given away during this promotion.
"We are excited with this great opportunity, in collaboration with CTRIP, to provide our guests with memorable experiences during their travel in China. This promotion allows us to present our guests with an opportunity to visit our properties in China for work or for leisure and at the same time stand the chance to win an exceptional and generous bonus!" said Alison Taylor, Vice President of Sales, Starwood Asia Pacific.
The promotion was well received this year and destinations which are most popular amongst travelers included Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Sanya and Shenyang.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts and CTRIP also announced the renewal of their business partnership during the press event. The renewal of the partnership agreement also kicks off a series of marketing activities to promote Starwood hotels and booking via CTRIP, one of the largest partners of Starwood in China.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide recently marked a milestone in its aggressive growth in Greater China announcing the signing of the Sheraton Beijing Dongcheng Hotel, their 100th hotel in the area. As the first international hotel chain to enter China when the historic Great Wall Beijing Sheraton Hotel was established in 1985, Starwood today is the largest international upscale hotel company in China and continues to grow its footprint there with the expansion of its brands including Sheraton, Westin, Le Meridien, St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, Aloft, Four Points by Sheraton and W hotels in established and emerging cities as well as resort destinations.
Ctrip.com
Ctrip.com is a leader and pioneer in travel industry in China who provides online travel services including hotel reservation, tickets booking, package vacation products and corporate travel management to 20 million members. Ctrip cooperates with more than 28,000 member hotels in 134 countries and territories, and cooperates with all major domestic and international airlines and flights as well. As a NASDAQ listed company since 2003, Ctrip founded in 1999 who has nearly 9,000 employees around China now headquartered in Shanghai with branch offices in other 10 major cities which are Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Xiamen, Qingdao, Nanjing, Wuhan, Shenyang. Ctrip has built a leading call center in Asia’s travel industry: nearly 4,000 representatives working 24×7 and the service network covering 56 cities nationwide. Ctrip has become one of the most famous brands among travel companies in China.
About Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with more than 890 properties in more than 100 countries and 155,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood Hotels is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels, resorts and residences with the following internationally renowned brands: St. Regis(R), The Luxury Collection(R), W(R), Westin(R), Le Meridien(R), Sheraton(R), Four Points(R) by Sheraton, and the recently launched AloftSM, and ElementSM. Starwood Hotels also owns Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., one of the premier developers and operators of high quality vacation interval ownership resorts. For more information, please visit http://www.starwoodhotels.com .
(Note: This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities regulations. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and involve risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated at the time the forward-looking statements are made. These risks and uncertainties are presented in detail in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although we believe the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, we can give no assurance that our expectations will be attained or that results and events will not materially differ. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.)
