Interval International and Marriott Vacation Club International signed a multi-year agreement that extends the relationship first established in 1990.

Hotel companies have taken a hard look at their balance sheets and are now implementing strategies on how to spend their cash. Executives from Starwood, Rezidor, Jumeirah, Marriott and Hilton talked development at the International Hotel Investment Forum in Berlin.

Green takes on many forms in hospitality. For the boutique hotelier, it can be a point of differentiation from powerful brands and other direct competitors.

A survey of 417 European hotel executives by law firm DLA Piper revealed weak industry confidence, with only 2 percent of respondents expecting a sustained upturn this year.

Small real estate footprints in high-cost cities like New York and San Francisco mean conversions are likely the most cost-effective option and financing still remains difficult. But developers who can find a way around these challenges may find opportunities to develop urban timeshare projects that are in demand by new sets of travelers and in a market with very little competition.

Hotel investment players warn that issues looming outside the industry could further hamper the recovery.

President Barack Obama signed the Travel Promotion Act into law, ending a multi-year legislative journey that now moves into the legislation's implementation phase.

As part of this strategy, the Radisson brand will be tiered across the upper upscale and upscale segments. Radisson Blu will be applied to the upper upscale segment and Radisson Green will be applied to the upscale segment.

At the end of Q4 2009, the total construction pipeline for EMEA had 1,373 projects, a decline of 22 percent since the Q2 2008 peak.

"We believe this is the first capital of its kind to come out. This move signals the new beginning of CMBS in regards to the hotel real estate sector," said John Stueber, president of Summit Capital.