Challenging times often foster solidarity and teamwork, as observers of the current hospitality and meetings industries can attest. We asked David Marr, senior vice president, brand management, North America, for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., to share his projections for the coming months and give us a preview of what Starwood has in store for meeting professionals.

Q: What is your outlook on the meetings and hospitality industries for the latter half of 2009 and into 2010?

A: After the unprecedented drop that started late last year and through the first quarter, a lot of industry experts first believed the economy would have a “hockey stick” recovery—it goes down, eventually hits bottom, and then starts to rise slightly. Most of us now are accepting the fact that it’s looking more like an “L” instead, that the economy is going to plateau for awhile. The good news is that I don’t think it’s going down further and some markets are seeing an uptick.

Starwood has taken bold action to protect the value of meetings with a program we are calling “Stand Up for Travel.” Our CEO Frits van Paasschen, along with other industry leaders, met with President Obama and legislators recently in D.C. to make sure they understand how important meetings and business travel are to the recovery of the economy.

The reality of life is that the meetings industry represents 15 percent of all travel in the U.S., generates $100 billion in spending, and is responsible for a million jobs. From the meetings side, $16 billion in tax revenue is being generated at the federal, state, and local levels. If you throw in business travel, that’s another 2.4 million jobs here in America, and another $39 billion in tax revenue—so it’s big. And the conversations are not over. We have to continue to make sure that the legislators in Washington and the media are aware of just how much of an impact business travel and meetings have, and how important they are to jump-starting the economy.

Q: What steps has Starwood taken to reach out to meeting professionals in this economic climate?

A: As part of the “Stand up for Travel” campaign, we talked to a lot of planners through focus groups and customer advisory boards, and clearly, the value proposition was top of mind. They need to be able to inform their decision makers about what kind of deal and discount they were able to negotiate and why it would be of great value to meet at a particular location.

To assist this, Starwood has gone to a partner for the first time at this scale, and has co-facilitated an offer with Pepsi. Along with receiving 4 percent off the master account, planners are provided a free meeting break showcasing Pepsi’s new healthy beverage and snack products.

A third component is the Starwood Preferred Planner (SPP), a bonus points program. Many meeting planners were telling us that, based on budgets, they were no longer able to afford some of the industry events, memberships, and products that they might have taken advantage of. With this in mind, we’ve provided, through SPP, an Instant Meeting Awards option to deduct additional dollars off the master account, and the ability to accrue points redeemable for all of PCMA’s high-level educational offerings or services. Our partnerships with Pepsi and PCMA help meeting professionals work within their budgets in a down economy and still benefit from continuing education.

Q: In what ways is Starwood fostering a sense of community in the public sector as well?

A: After talking with planners, it was clear that a Corporate Social Responsibility component should be added. Lately it seems the first to be cut. So we went back to Pepsi and tapped into their relationships in the music industry. Natasha Bedingfield, who has worked with us before, is launching a new album, Pocketful of Sunshine, and agreed to work with us in our latest meetings promotion. Planners that book a meeting through this concept will be entered for a chance to host a charity concert with Natasha at no cost to their company. She’ll perform for free, and the company can select their favorite charity to benefit. It’s a great opportunity to promote meetings and give back to the community.

Q: What's on Starwood's horizon?

A: While a lot of hotels are making dramatic changes to cut back in areas that could affect the guest, Starwood’s focus is still on service and our guest satisfaction scores are at an all-time high across all brands. In a tough time, where customers have more choices, we have to be fanatical about making sure the experience with us remains top-notch.

We’re currently operating in a hundred countries and are going to open 80-100 hotels this year, including our thousandth hotel in October. These new openings will generate another 12,000 jobs around the world.

We cannot let the current economy slow us down, and Starwood will continue to lead in the area of innovation. We are turning the select-serve model on its ear with the launch of our two newest brands, Aloft, and Element for the extended stay segment. And Sheraton is going through a $4 billion revitalization plan, spending $2.3 billion with new hotels, $1.5 billion on renovations and upgrades to 98 existing hotels, and $400 million on creating experiences that resonate with our guests, like the Link@Sheraton, which is getting huge reviews. We continue to work with our partners and move forward so that we can own the upswing—an upswing that will be driven by meetings and group travel.