Become a Home Based Travel Agent

STARWOOD HOTELS & RESORTS RECOGNIZES 20,000th STARWOODPRO
By Chris J. Austin

Many of you, members of the Travel Professional Community, have already become StarwoodPros and we are so appreciative of your commitment to your customers and to us… We wanted to share some exciting news with you today.

We have just graduated our 20,000^th graduate of the core ProLearning module, Loyalty and Brands. This module, a 45-minute, online travel professional training program designed to help travel professionals better understand each of Starwood’s distinct nine brands, is a proven success among the travel professional community. StarwoodPro is also the only way travel professionals can gain access to Starwood’s lowest industry rates, STARPRO travel professional rates.

Curtis Kowalski of American Express Travel in Cambridge, MA was the 20,000th travel professional to graduate from Module One of ProLearning. To recognize this milestone, Kowalski receives 20,000 Starpoints to experience Starwood’s properties for himself. 

ProLearning allows travel professionals to work on-line at their own pace, with little advance work or preparation. Each of the four current training modules contains video, audio and high-resolution visuals, and includes learning aids such as supplemental offerings and hyperlinks to other sites.  Also available now are two new destination modules focusing on Hawaii and the Caribbean. Additional destination modules will be available later this year.

 “We continue to be gratified by the travel professional community’s commitment to learning our products and engaging with us in providing the best customer experience possible,” said Chris Austin, Vice President, Global Retail Leisure & Luxury Sales. “The response to ProLearning has been impressive and the continued development of a sales force of StarwoodPros is a welcome outcome. We are thrilled to have Curtis as our 20,000th graduate and look to continue to expand our relationship with those dedicated to being the best at being travel professionals.

“We also hope those 20,000 who have completed our Loyalty and Brands module will come back and explore our new destination offerings. With so much of the world to sell, we felt we could provide a bit of guidance in markets where we have a concentration of properties and a vested interest in the success of these resort destinations,” Austin said. “The lessons are based on the art of storytelling, and this method of sales is seeing a resurgence in the era of social media, and we hope to help our travel professionals better share the stories of Hawaii, the Caribbean and the new destinations to come with their customers.”

Travel professionals who complete the first module qualify for exclusive STARPRO rates through Starwood’s Travel Professional Experience Rate program.  STARPRO rates start at $69 and can be booked at www.starwoodpro.com.

“We appreciate the travel professional’s investment in time to learn about our products, but there is no better way than to experience them first hand. That opportunity, and the entire robust suite of benefits offered to our StarwoodPros, is a privilege we believe these dedicated pros have earned,” Austin said. 

Recognized by the Travel Institute, ProLearning also awards participants with Continuing Education (CEU) credits based on satisfactory completion of each module. ProLearning training modules are most effective when completed in one sitting but are designed to allow travel professional to start work, leave and return. To meet the needs of global travel professionals, the modules also include a downloadable script translated into multiple languages.

To participate in ProLearning, travel professionals should visit www.starwoodpro.com today.