Starwood appoints SVP of commercial services
Starwood Hotels & Resorts has appointed Mark Vondrasek as senior vice president of commercial services.
Vondrasek will oversee the Starwood sales organisation and revenue management globally, in addition to distribution, loyalty and partnerships.
Adam Aron, chief executive officer of Starwood Hotels & Resorts on an interim basis commented: “We are fortunate to have a deep bench of talent within Starwood and we are delighted that Mark will take on additional and critical revenue-generating functions within our company.
“The creation of Commercial Services allows us to look holistically at the enterprise value of our global sales accounts, Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) members and new and emerging guests, and customers to create outsized loyalty and drive more high-value business to our hotels.”
In his new role, Vondrasek will lead an organisation of more than 7500 staff around the globe, responsible for the SPG programme, 10 customer contact centres, mobile applications, digital initiatives, business-to-business sales strategy, revenue management and sales.
During his 14-year tenure at Starwood, Vondrasek has spearheaded SPG Keyless, SPGPro, Your24, SPG Lifetime, Delta Crossover Rewards, and SPG Preferences.
He has also overseen Starwood’s strategic marketing partnerships, including a long-standing, co-branded credit card alliance with American Express and entertainment partnerships, including Delta Air Lines, Emirates, Coca Cola, Mercedes AMG Petronas, and Uber.
Prior to Starwood, Vondrasek worked at Fidelity Investments.
He earned a Bachelor’s degree from the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota and a Master’s in business administration from Loyola University in Chicago.
Starwood also announced a new and expanded role for Chris Holdren, senior vice president of distribution, loyalty and partnerships, who reports to Vondrasek.
Holdren will assume day-to-day leadership of SPG, digital, marketing partnerships and consumer insight and analytics.
Vondrasek commented: “Chris’s enhanced role is a testament to his successful track record at Starwood and plays to his strengths in loyalty and digital where we continue to innovate and distinguish Starwood from our competitors.”