Just as the company’s footprint has grown significantly, its most valuable guests have also increased their loyalty to Starwood around the globe.  Despite the global economic crisis, Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) active membership has grown by 56 percent over the last five years. 

On any given night, more than half of Starwood’s guests are SPG members.  Not only are there more people enrolled in SPG than ever before, the program makeup has shifted.  In 2008, nearly two thirds of SPG members were U.S.-based, while today that number is only 47 percent.  Membership in emerging markets has grown fivefold in that time.  China has catapulted to Starwood’s second largest SPG market and fastest growing, followed by India, UAE and Brazil.