Wyndham Worldwide Named Among DiversityInc's Top 5

PARSIPPANY, NJ--(Marketwired - Apr 24, 2013) - Wyndham Worldwide ( NYSE : WYN ), one of world's largest hospitality companies, was named to DiversityInc's Top 50 Companies for Diversity. This is the Company's first year in the Top 50.

The DiversityInc Top 50 includes companies from a wide range of industries whose leadership, procurement practices, communications and training best reflect the reality of the rapidly changing face of America.

"Receiving this recognition is a huge honor and a great reflection of our efforts to ensure the variety of experience, perspectives, and backgrounds within our organization are as diverse as the communities we operate in around the world," said Stephen P. Holmes, chairman and chief executive officer, Wyndham Worldwide. "We are proud to receive such an honor, but more importantly, excited that we continue to see the impact our diversity efforts have in our operating performance and value created for our shareholders."

Wyndham Worldwide remains focused on growing its businesses globally, while supporting a culture of focusing on its performance and people in each of the communities where it operates. The Company believes diversity enriches its organization as a global hospitality provider, and embraces a culture of diversity and inclusion that supports associates of all backgrounds. As a global company with operations across six continents, Wyndham Worldwide embraces equality for all people in the workplace, including women, which represent 50 percent of the Company's total U.S. workforce and 65 percent of all director-level and above positions, and Wyndham Worldwide offers a variety of programs for female associates including leadership training programs, mentoring opportunities and educational support.

Additionally, Wyndham Worldwide sponsors several Associate Business Groups (ABGs), where associates with common interests share ideas and experiences, and promote professional development, engagement, and inclusion throughout the company. Open to all associates, ABGs at Wyndham Worldwide currently include: WYNPride (LGBT), ¡Fuerte! (Hispanic), Spectrum (African American), I-VOW (Veterans), Women on Their Way (Women in the Workplace) and AASK (Administrative Assistants).

"It is an honor to be recognized, but more importantly, we believe that it is the behavior of our associates and their commitment to our core values that are reflected in this accolade, which enable us to consistently deliver great results," said Mary Falvey, executive vice president and chief human resources officer, Wyndham Worldwide. "It's a great foundation from which to grow, and I am proud to be a part of, and support this culture every day."

DiversityInc also announced a number of Specialty Lists, with Wyndham Worldwide ranking fifth for supplier diversity . With a focus on both U.S. domestic and global growth, the Company's supplier diversity program surpassed its 2012 goals in strengthening the diversity of its global supply chain, and its diverse spend which increased 19 percent over 2011. 

"Wyndham Worldwide's focus on improving its diversity management has landed it a spot on the list. I have personally heard Wyndham Worldwide's chairman and chief executive officer, Steve Holmes, emphasize diversity and inclusion as a key contributor to their success," said Luke Visconti, chief executive officer, DiversityInc. "The Company is building an aggressive diversity effort, including its world-class supplier diversity program, and the senior executives I've met are personally invested in the success of their program and passionate about its direct connection to the business. Considering Wyndham Worldwide's extraordinary business and stock market success, I think they're a company to watch."

The process of determining The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity is based completely on empirical data. Participation in the survey is free and companies that do business with DiversityInc receive no preferential treatment. In order to participate, an organization must have at least 1,000 employees and fill out a detailed, 300-question survey, which is divided into four equally weighted areas: CEO Commitment, Human Capital, Corporate and Organizational Communications, and Supplier Diversity. Each company is judged within its own industry and each application is vetted by DiversityInc staff. DiversityInc requires notarized CEO sign-offs on submissions from companies where it has not met with the CEO directly. For the 2013 survey, 893 companies participated. For more information, visit DiversityInc's survey FAQ. The full list can be found at www.DiversityInc.com/top50 .

About Wyndham Worldwide One of the world's largest hospitality companies, Wyndham Worldwide ( NYSE : WYN ) provides a wide range of hospitality products and services through its global portfolio of world-renowned brands. The world's largest hotel company based on the number of properties, Wyndham Hotel Group is home to many of the world's best-known hotel brands, with approximately 7,380 franchised hotels and over 631,800 hotel rooms worldwide. Wyndham Exchange & Rentals is the worldwide leader in vacation exchange and the world's largest professionally managed vacation rentals business, providing more than 5 million leisure-bound families annually with access to over 106,000 vacation properties in 100 countries through its prominent exchange and vacation rental brands. The industry and timeshare ownership market leader, Wyndham Vacation Ownership develops, markets, and sells vacation ownership interests and provides consumer financing to owners through its network of 190 vacation ownership resorts serving approximately 915,000 owners throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and the South Pacific. Based in Parsippany, NJ, Wyndham Worldwide employs approximately 32,500 associates globally.

For more information, please visit www.wyndhamworldwide.com .

About DiversityInc

DiversityInc is the leading source of information on diversity management . The company is a consultancy and publishes two websites, www.DiversityInc.com and www.DiversityIncBestPractices.com , as well as a magazine, published five times a year. DiversityInc also produces diversity events , which average more than 600 attendees from 200 companies and have featured more than 20 CEOs of major corporations.