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Peter Strebel Named President of Wyndham Worldwide; Jean Thomas
Named EVP and Chief Marketing Officer for Cendant's
Just Acquired Brand
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PARSIPPANY, N.J. (Oct. 13, 2005) � Following its acquisition of the Wyndham® hotel brand this week, Cendant Hotel Group today announced the appointments of Peter Strebel as president of Wyndham Worldwide and Jean Thomas as the Hotel Group�s executive vice president and chief marketing officer.
 
Strebel and Thomas will report to Steven A. Rudnitsky, Hotel Group chairman and chief executive officer.
 

Peter Strebel

Jean Thomas

Peter Strebel, who will oversee the performance and strategic direction of the Wyndham brand, is a 23-year lodging veteran who had served the Hotel Group as executive vice president and chief marketing officer since November 2004.  He joined Cendant in February 2001 as senior vice president, hotel marketing, and was promoted to senior vice president, sales and marketing, in January 2002.  
 
Prior to joining the company, he was vice president of marketing for Omni Hotels in Irving, Texas, where he served for more than a decade in various sales, marketing and operational positions with national, regional and local orientations.
 
Among his recent accomplishments, Strebel directed the successful launch of Cendant�s multibrand TripRewards® loyalty program, spearheaded the re-engineering of the Hotel Group�s brand Web sites and helped drive an increasing volume of business through the distribution channels that deliver more than $1 billion in revenue annually to Cendant franchisees.  
 
�Peter Strebel�s strong operations background, extensive experience in the upscale lodging segment and passion for the industry make him the right person for this major responsibility,� Rudnitsky said.  �He is an energetic, results-driven manager with strong business acumen, deep understanding of hotel sales, marketing and distribution as well as an impressive track record of accomplishment.�
 
Earlier in his career, Strebel was vice president of sales and marketing for the Florida Hospitality Group of Tampa, Fla., a franchisee of Howard Johnson®, Days Inn® and Omni® hotels, and served Prime Management Inc. of Fairfield, N.J., in various sales, marketing and operational positions in New York and Florida. 
 
Strebel is a 1982 graduate of Hofstra University, Hempstead, N.Y., where he earned a bachelor�s degree in business administration.  He serves on the board and executive committee of the Travel Industry Association of America, Washington, and is an adjunct professor for the International School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Madison, N.J.

In her new role, Jean Thomas will be responsible for the strategy and execution of the Hotel Group�s umbrella and brand-specific marketing programs and oversee the following departments: Loyalty and Direct Marketing, Brand Marketing and Strategy, Diversity and Community Involvement, International Marketing, Market Research, Revenue Management and Reservations Sales, Worldwide Sales and Communications.
 
She returns to the Hotel Group after serving for a year as corporate senior vice president of marketing for Cendant's Travel Content Division, reporting to Stephen P. Holmes, Cendant vice chairman, responsible for developing the division's vision, strategies and marketing initiatives.  Her accomplishments include coordinating loyalty, cross marketing and new product and business development opportunities across the hotel, timeshare, timeshare exchange and car rental business units.
 
Thomas joined Cendant in 2002 as the Hotel Group's senior vice president of brand strategy, responsible for developing comprehensive long- and short-term strategies for the Hotel Group as well as the individual lodging brands.  In that role, she led the repositioning of each brand with corresponding new marketing plans and programs.  She also directed the consumer research process that helped establish a new quality assurance program for all brands.  
 
�Jean�s extensive background and experience in marketing, operations and at the Hotel Group make her ideally suited for her new role,� Rudnitsky said.  �Her recent work with Cendant�s other hospitality brands and travel-related companies will help the Hotel Group further leverage intercompany synergies on behalf of our brands and hotels.�
 
Prior to joining Cendant, Thomas was a vice president of marketing for Nabisco and then Kraft Foods in Parsippany, N.J.  From 1987 to 2002, she served in a variety of marketing positions including brand marketing, customer marketing and food-service marketing and directed the integration of the Kraft and Nabisco food-service marketing organizations.  Prior to Kraft, she held marketing positions at PepsiCo Inc., Carnation Company and Harshe-Rotman and Druck Public Relations.
 
She earned her bachelor's degree in foods and nutrition from Oregon State University and her master�s of business administration degree from the UCLA Graduate School of Management.
 
New York City-based Cendant Corporation (NYSE:CD) provides travel and residential real estate services to businesses and consumers in more than 100 countries.  Cendant Hotel Group, based in Parsippany, N.J., is the world�s largest lodging franchisor with 6,460 hotels on five continents under the Wyndham®, Super 8®, Days Inn®, Ramada®, Travelodge®, Howard Johnson®, Knights Inn®, Wingate Inn® and AmeriHost Inn® brands.  All hotels are individually owned and operated under franchise agreements with Cendant subsidiaries.

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Contact:

Rich Roberts     
Vice President, Communications
Cendant Hotel Group
(973) 496-0750  
[email protected] 

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Also See: Peter Strebel Promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Cendant Corporation�s Hotel Group / November 2004
Anthony Berger Named Chief Operating Officer Cendant's Hotel Group; Other Appointments Made to Improve Franchisee and Company Value / April 2004
Jean Thomas Named Corporate Senior Vice President of Marketing for Cendant's Hospitality Services Division / November 2004

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