SHERATON BAL HARBOUR RESORT LEADS ITT SHERATON'S LAUNCH OF 'NEW' ITT SHERATON WITH LARGEST ALL-EMPLOYEE SALES BLITZ IN COMPANY'S HISTORY

SHERATON BAL HARBOUR RESORT LEADS ITT SHERATON'S LAUNCH OF 'NEW' ITT SHERATON WITH LARGEST ALL-EMPLOYEE SALES BLITZ IN COMPANY'S HISTORY

   BAL HARBOUR, Fla., March 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Mobilizing everyone from the chief executive officer to hotel chefs and front desk managers, ITT Sheraton Corporation is launching "Here Comes ITT Sheraton!", the largest sales effort in its history starting Monday, March 23 and running through Friday, April 3, the company announced today.
    "Here Comes ITT Sheraton!" is a multi-national effort to announce the "new" ITT Sheraton, highlighting the $1 billion investment in ITT Sheraton properties in North America and Hawaii which will be completed in April.
    The two-week, full scale effort will feature more that 42,000 face to face visits to prospective customers around the world (25,000 in North American and 17,000 in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, including 2,000 in the United Kingdom) and 250 properties sponsoring 175 customer appreciation events throughout North America.
    "We also believe the time is right to tell our prospective customers and remind our current customers that ITT Sheraton properties throughout North America and Hawaii now reflect more than $1 billion worth of improvement, supporting our goal of having a premier property in every major business center on the continent," said Robert T. Hamel, general manager, Sheraton Bal Harbour.
    The multi-national personal visit sales effort by non-sales personnel will deliver the news of improvement in ITT Sheraton properties in North America and Hawaii.
    This is a full-scale, all-level effort to talk with people who have not been hosted in awhile and to thank current customers.
    "We here at Sheraton Bal Harbour also want to offer our personal commitment to consistency and quality of product and service to our guests around the world, and 'Here Comes ITT Sheraton!' is the perfect occasion to deliver that unified and pervasive message," Hamel added.
    "Here Comes ITT Sheraton!" blends business with fun as the serious message of the 'new' ITT Sheraton in North America and Hawaii is delivered by day to prospective customers, and more than 150 customer appreciation events occur, for the most part, at night.
    In Bal Harbour, customers will experience a beach party and a familiarization weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, March 27, 28 and 29.
    ITT Sheraton's customers in Los Angeles will enjoy a private Natalie Cole concert at the Forum with master of ceremonies Alan Thicke.  In San Diego, ITT Sheraton customers will sail aboard Stars & Stripes with Dennis Conner, defending champion of The America's Cup, who will compete again in May.
    In Steamboat, Colo., Billy Kidd will provide ski counsel to ITT Sheraton customers.  Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada will feature an Olympic theme while in Washington, D.C., the evening event is a black- tie Academy Awards gala.
    All employees who will participate -- starting at the top with Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer John Kapioltas, extending to the company's executive committee, moving to properties' management and supervising staff, including the Sheraton Bal Harbour's General Manager Robert T. Hamel -- have received training materials, procedures and support.  In addition, each property will provide daily de-briefing to help participating employees gear for the next day's calls on prospective customers.
    "The financial investment in our properties, combined with our new levels of service for business travelers, is putting the finishing touch on our overall effort to offer guests in North America the high standards they experience at ITT Sheraton properties around the world," said Hamel.
    In Florida, the oceanfront Sheraton Bal Harbour resort just completed a $22 million renovation; including all 662 rooms and suites, two new ballrooms, 3 new restaurants, new front entrance and 70,000 square feet of meeting space.
    In New York City, ITT Sheraton's investment totals more than $300 million -- $143 million at the 1,800-room Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers (formerly the Sheraton Centre Hotel & Towers), $47 million at the 725-room Sheraton Manhattan (formerly the Sheraton City Squire), and more than $100 million at the historic 365-room St. Regis.
    The Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers, a new $180 million, 34-story, 1,200 convention hotel, is Chicago's first major convention hotel to be built in 14 years.  It opened March 2 and houses a 40,000 square foot ballroom, the Midwest's largest.
    In San Francisco, the historic Sheraton Palace reopened last spring after a 27-month more than $100 million restoration.
    In California, some $30 million is being invested in Santa Monica's well-known Miramar Sheraton Hotel.
    One of Hawaii's most luxurious hotels, the Princeville Hotel on Kauai, reopened last spring after a $100 million renovation that included all areas of the 252-room resort property.
    Some $42 million is being spent on the renovation of the 771-room Sheraton Civic Center Hotel in Birmingham, which opened on Jan. 15.
    Effective April 1, ITT Sheraton properties in North America and Hawaii will also have a new set of upgraded services to enhance business travelers' hotel

stays. These include in-room coffee makers in ITT Sheraton hotels, express check-in and check-out, 30-minute room service guarantee and five-minute guaranteed express breakfast.

    Boston-based ITT Sheraton Corporation, a subsidiary of ITT Corporation, is a worldwide network of nearly 450 owned, leased, managed and franchised properties operating in 62 countries.
    -0-                         3/23/92
    /CONTACT:  Herb Kaplan of Sheraton Bal Harbour Resort, 305-865-7511/ CO:  Sheraton Bal Harbour Resort ST:  Florida IN:  LEI SU:

AW-SS -- FL012 -- 0688 03/23/92 15:25 EST