Barry Sternlicht to Chair the International Hotel Investment Forum in Berlin, Germany

In addition to heading up Starwood Capital which he founded in 1991, Sternlicht is chairman of the board of Société du Louvre and Baccarat. From 1995 through 2004, Sternlicht was chairman and CEO of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., a company he founded in 1995. He has been credited as a dynamic and innovative hotel leader, creating new products and programs with immediate global appeal. Sternlicht created and launched W Hotels, which has grown to 30 operating or under construction hotels worldwide. In November 2005, Sternlicht was named America’s Best Lodging CEO by Institutional Investor magazine. For his commitment to design in business, in 2005, Sternlicht was inducted into the Interior Design Magazine Hall of Fame.

“We are delighted that Barry has agreed to serve as Chair of the 10th annual IHIF,” co-host Jim Burba of BHN said. “Mr. Sternlicht has been a dynamic and innovative leader in our industry for the past decade and his recent $3.2 billion acquisition of Société du Louvre and the subsequent launch of the new ‘luxury brand’ Crillon suggest that more exciting things for the European and, indeed, the global lodging industry are coming, ” Burba added.

The IHIF is the largest annual gathering of top hotel industry leaders in Europe. In March 2006, a record attendance of over 1300 delegates from 52 countries attended the IHIF.

Questex Media Group, Inc. is a global, diversified business-to-business integrated media provider, headquartered in Newton, MA. Questex serves multiple industries including travel, hospitality, technology, beauty, leisure, home entertainment, industrial and specialty services through a range of well-established, market-leading publications, events, interactive media and integrated marketing services. The company's properties include 23 trade publications including Hotel & Motel Management and Hotel Design, 50 websites, 25 conferences and tradeshows. Questex has more than 400 employees in offices throughout North America, South America, Asia and Europe.

Burba Hotel Network (BHN) brings together more than two decades of experience in developing and organizing the world’s most prominent gatherings of the hotel and tourism investment community, including the Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) in Los Angeles, the International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF) in Berlin, the annual Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Investment Conference (CHTIC), the Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP) held in Hong Kong, and the Bolsa Mexicana de Inversion Turistica (BMIT) in Mexico City. The BHN website at www.BURBA.com is the gateway for information about the conferences BHN produces, as well as a direct link to important players in the hospitality investment world.