Kevin Heilbronner: Coming off the panel, the Hotel Branch and Internet Strategies, I'm joined by Tom Botts, the director of Distribution Strategy and Operations, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worlwide. There has been that move to match prices on the Starwood sites, or on the owned sites to the third party sites as to not erode that pricing. And, it seems that you and Hilton are in the same boat, in where you're making a push to do that. But on the other hand you still have those relationships with the third party vendors. Will those relationships continue or are they acting as another selling agent for you?

Tom Botts: We view our relationships with Travelocity and Expedia and Travelweb all as important relationships. You know we do reach new customers we reach different customers through those channels than through our own proprietary website. And for that matter, I think we'll continue to foster and grow those relationships. But I think the key takeaway here is that our branded websites, the Starwood branded websites, continue to outsell the merchant model or third party websites by 5 to 1, so that's really where the focus of our growth will be, but we still obviously want to maintain a presence.

Kevin Heilbronner: Your internet strategy is let's take care of ourselves, and then use some of the other folks in the Pricelines, the Expedias, and so forth. Do they help sell vacation packages, is it business travelers you're looking for, or both?

Tom Botts: I'd say the focus of what we're looking to gain in the third party channels is definitely the leisure consumer. You know, the unbranded consumer who isn't a member of our preferred guest program, who isn't sure when they come to New York do they want to stay at the Sheraton, the Hilton the Hyatt, or wherever. And how do we reach that consumer and convert them to be a loyal Starwood guest.

Kevin Heilbronner: And I know from the W, just one of the brands to pick out, is that it's not just a head in the bed, it's the entire experience from the time you walk into the lobby to the restaurants and so forth. That has been a success for you, has is not? And is there some expansion other than just the US for the W brand. Is it in Europe?

Tom Botts: I don't have any actual information on where the W brand is going in Europe. We are opening W Seoul very soon and W Mexico City will be opening very soon. But I don't have an update on a European presence as of yet.

Kevin Heilbronner: Let me ask you about the panel itself, some of the colleagues, including the gentlemen from the Hilton, somewhat outspoken, you two seem to share some of the same views. Anything surprise you that was said today, and even coming from the crowd, some of the franchisees, is there anything you feel you need to work on or anything that didn't get said?

Tom Botts: No, I'm pretty comfortable with the way it went. I think the message is pretty clear. And the value that we as a brand are providing for properties is pretty clear and understandable.

Kevin Heilbronner: It's bottom line, come to the Starwood websites, come look at our brands, come look at our properties, and we're gonna try and do the best we can for you. If you end up going on Expedia, if you end up going on Priceline, is a guest going to get the same service when they come in, are they going to get the same type of room?

Tom Botts: Well clearly we don't have a bias per say against one channel versus another or whatever else. That said, is a guest going to receive a better consumer experience by booking through the Starwood branded website, our goal is hopefully yes. Through booking bonuses and things of that nature. Just the fact that we're able to get a Starwood preferred guest number from the consumer. If they book through our branded website they can tell us preferences that they may have, like, do they want a smoking room, a non smoking room, all those kinds of minutia that really make a hotel experience different from say an airline experience, obviously there's huge differences, but enable us to differentiate.

Kevin Heilbronner: And finally, Travelweb, there's a little chat about that up there, a lot of people involved, a lot of companies involved in Travelweb. So you've got to be looking forward to that starting up and hopefully doing some good business for you.

Tom Botts: Yeah we're definitely very encouraged with the results Travelweb has posted so far, and I think if they continue add new affiliates we'll continue to see the growth. So we're really excited and really pushing for them to make a big splash.

Kevin Heilbronner: Tom Botts joins us, the director of Distribution Strategy and Operations, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worlwide, an interview on the fly. So we thank you for you for your moment.

Tom Botts: Sounds good, thanks.