The annual Starwood Latin America Franchise Hotels Conference was held in Bogota recently to observe trends and strategies for 2012 for the Starwood Hotels & Resorts brands (Sheraton, Four Points by Sheraton, Westin, Element by Westin, Aloft, W Hotels, Le Meridian, Luxury Collection and St Regis). The meeting was held at Sheraton Bogota, a hotel operated by Colombian-based GHL Hotels, handling 42 hotels in Latin America. Osvaldo Librizzi, president of Starwood’s Latin-American division, and Juan Rodriguez Medina (CMO) and Adolfo Scheel (COO) of GHL Hotels, along with over 50 general managers and commercial directors of Latin American hotels were present. Topics discussed were trends and marketing strategies, loyalty, revenue management, branding, training and management of human resources in the industry.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts, www.starwoodhotels.com; GHL Hotels, www.ghlhoteles.com