Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc. (HOT) signed 25 new deals and opened over 40 hotels in its North America Division in 2009. The company expects to open 20 more hotels by the end of this year. Globally, Starwood is on a voyage to open its 1000th hotel and resort.

Starwood's focus on developer-centric conversion has contributed to large scale hotel openings and new deal signings this year, which is in line with the company's strategy of long-term sustained growth in North America.

We believe the strength of Starwood's brands allow it to charge a premium for its hotel rooms. Given its property locations and strong brand recognition, we think that the company is well positioned to benefit from business travelers going to major North American destinations. Furthermore, as the demand environment improves, HOT should benefit from business travelers going to international locations as well.

Both business and leisure travel have

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On Wednesday, Marriott International Inc. (MAR) said it would incur $760 million in impairment charges during the third quarter for its timeshare segment. The division saw soft demand for its luxury residential products in 2008 that weakened further in the current year. The company now plans to increase cash flow by lowering prices and development at luxury fractional and residential resorts.

Besides reducing housing prices, Marriott intends to convert certain proposed projects for other uses and sell some undeveloped land. While the company will maintain promotional pricing and marketing incentives in Europe due to weak demand, it has stopped pursuing additional development in the continent.

Marriott will record impairment charges of $295 million associated with five luxury residential projects, $300 million for nine North American luxury fractional projects and $95 million for one North American timeshare project. The company will also incur charges of $55 million for four

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Marriott International Inc. (MAR) recently said it signed 21 management contracts for hotels and resorts in the Asia-Pacific region. These hotels, scheduled to open through the end of 2013, will add approximately 7,000 rooms to the company’s portfolio. The projects are lined up in China, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines and Cambodia.

As a result of the expansion, Marriott’s Asia-Pacific portfolio will have 154 hotels offering 51,500 rooms in 18 countries by the end of 2013.

Both business and leisure travel have decreased significantly in the past two quarters due to the economic turmoil. Corporations across the globe have adopted stringent methods to curtail expenses and restricted business trips and retreats. As a result, hotel operators like Marriott and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (HOT) were forced to depend on leisure travelers who are more vulnerable to price shifts. Thus, their balance sheets have been severely impacted.

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On July 16, Bethesda, MD-based hotelier Marriott International (MAR) reported financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2009. Total revenue was $2.6 billion, down 19.6% versus the prior year period. Marriott experienced worldwide declines in revenue per available room (RevPAR) across all its brands. RevPAR is a key metric for the lodging industry. Base management and franchise fees declined 19%, while incentive management fees were down 66% from the prior year. Owned, leased, corporate housing and other revenue decreased 54%, while adjusted timeshare sales and services revenue declined 24%. Worldwide comparable company-operated properties RevPAR decreased 26.1% (23.0% on a constant-dollar basis), while worldwide system-wide RevPAR fell 23.6% (21.4% on a constant-dollar basis). International company-operated RevPAR fell 31.5% (22.1% on a constant-dollar basis) including a 22.3% decline in average daily rate (11.6% using a constant-dollar basis). The results reflected the economic recession in addition to ...